As conservative state legislatures and higher education governing boards increasingly restrict DEI initiatives at public universities, signs of cultural retrenchment are popping up on campuses all around the country. Here are 10 of the most egregious examples:
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: Embedding one’s personal-pronoun preference (he/she/they/it) in an email signature is now prohibited. Instead, faculty and staff must indicate their favorite pasta shape (rotini, farfalle, penne, vermicelli, ziti, etc.).
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY: New school motto: “Making America White Again”
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: USC’s Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence recently established a Sexual Trafficking Certificate Program.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING: Vegetarians are required to wear an armband bearing a broccoli logo whenever they enter the dining hall. Vegans must eat off-campus.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY: Will install in front of the student union a 30-foot statue honoring Simon LeGree, the plantation owner depicted in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Mr. LeGree will brandish a whip. New school motto: “Discipline, Above All”
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: In April, UK’s Office of Student Activities will sponsor its first annual “Take Back the Night” march for heterosexual males, funded by Coors Light and Axe Body Spray.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA: Recently opened its Christopher Columbus Institute for Indigenous and Injun Studies.
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY: The school’s wildly popular podcast, “Racial Disparities in God’s Plan,” will begin its second season in June.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY: New school motto: “Erasing the Line between Church and State”
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA: In response to the current “trans” crisis, all applications for admission must be accompanied by a photo of the student’s birth genitalia.
Stay tuned.