On March 7, Dr. Shaun Harper, university professor, provost professor of education, business and public policy, and the founder and executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center, was watching a livestream from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, titled “Divisive, Excessive, Ineffective: The Real Impact of DEI on College Campuses.”
Committee member U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, a Republican from Utah quipped: “Today’s hearing addresses a long growing cancer that resides in the hearts of American academic institutions.” Owens called diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives “demeaning and racist.”
Dr. Toby S. Jenkins
“The more I watched, the more inspired I became to do something,” he said in an interview with Diverse.
Seeing the importance of detailing the clear research and evidence that support DEI and its significant applications within the academy, Harper and 11 other scholars penned essays that have been assembled in a new report titled, “Truths About DEI on College Campuses: Evidence-Based Expert Responses to Politicized Misinformation.” Fact sheets called “Campus Truths,” are interspersed throughout the report, which cites data and facts about various institutions and findings.
“We value evidence over anecdotes. We value democracy over divisiveness,” wrote Harper, who set out on the project to debunk the myths.
“DEI initiatives aim to bring students and employees together to learn from each other’s differences and to co-create inclusive campus environments,” the report notes.
