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Diversity offices on college campuses will soon be illegal in Texas, as 30 new laws go into effect
(www.texastribune.org)
The cruelty is the point
this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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Makes sense that a state that originally declared independence from Mexico because they wanted to keep up the institution of slavery also doesn't want a diverse university population.
Fun (in the loosest sense of the word) fact: The Oklahoma panhandle also exists because Texas wanted to keep slavery.
Is the Oklahoma panhandle a euphemism for a gentleman's part?
In case you're not meme'ing, its because the strip of land makes Oklahoma look like a pan, with it as the handle of it.
Asshats seem to do this in the death throes of failed ideas. Lose a case and double down with a pile of new laws that take a decade to untangle in the courts.
This is 100% a replay of racists' loss on segregation, and it's happening in both red and blue states on separate issues: as bigots in red stateslose on human rights for classes they dislike and classists in blue states lose the rich having the monopoly on force/self-defense.
Shit states gonna shit state.
They are a rough draft. It's the sandbox for just how awful a government can treat it's citizens before they revolt. So far it's working really well. Except the final draft in 2024.
Can we let them have their freedom so I can stop funneling my tax dollars to their autocratic christofascist fucking messes?
Seriously.. you're right. I'm a coastal elite douchebag. You were right all along. I get it now. By all means, please go your own way. Don't let the door hit your electrical grid on the way out..
Let's give the state back to Mexico and let them sort it out
Republicans love small government. /s
Small Government! Freedom!
While I think this law is overall a bad thing, ending diversity statements is a good thing. They add unnecessary work to an already onerous application process, and mostly serve to just serve to exclude lower class applicants of any race who don't know the right way to write a diversity statement. In practice they're mostly a class signifier and should be abolished.
Ah yes those poor dumb University hopefuls who don't know how to use google because they are too impoverished to learn how to use a computer and have too much lead poisoning impacted impairments to learn to write a basic essay... To apply for University...
Did they get rid of Legacy admissions by any chance?
I mean, you can't just Google how to write a diversity statement in a way that matches what a university hiring committee wants. It's like googling how to write an email as a rich alumnus. It's a deep culture that most people don't have access to.
Yes you can. You can actually specify which specific University you are applying to on a search and usually get fairly specific advice and monetarily or connection lacking perspective University students basically make a job and practice of learning that shit for obtaining scholarships and those who feel they want to give back make their stuff known. The ability to research well is selective but so is requiring excellent grades and tests.
Saying "This job requiring a cover letter disadvantages people because writing cover letters is hard" for a highly competitive job that requires a high level of aptitude in writing as a basic requirement for getting the job is kind of a joke. Meanwhile the fast tracks and leg ups for kids based strictly on who their parents are still in place and represent an actual nepotism problem that creates a privileged class that no manner of personal merit will allow someone to benefit from.
An unpopular opinion I’m sure (for reasons), but do these offices actually achieve anything besides bloating up the already obese administration that sucks money away from the academic side of the university?
Ah yes, suddenly everyone cares about where money is going when discussing something they dislike.
The thing about diversity and inclusion is that there are a lot of systemic barriers that people don't see until they go looking for them. People who live with disadvantages learn to adapt to them and frequently don't vocalize them to avoid being a burden. Contrary to conservative narrative, these offices do more than promote affirmative action. These offices examine historical architecture to make them more accessible to the handicapped, proactively identify/resolve problems for university brands, provide funds and support to clubs, and help with employment opportunities for students.
Will the closure of these offices immediately create problems for campuses? Probably not. Will there be other issues that pop up that these departments exist to prevent? Almost certainly
It's absolutely bonkers to me that people don't believe there is intrinsic value to mechanical diversity. When I taught student engineering teams, the effects could not have been more obvious. Homogenous groups of "friends" would produce the most lazy, derivative and uncreative work, while it was always that last team of stragglers who had never spoken to each other who would consistently produce actual groundbreaking projects. Most of the time these were middle of the road students in terms of their grades as well.
Being forced outside of a comfort zone literally activates different parts of your brain. It forces you to approach problem solving and teamwork from first principles instead of conditioned and subconscious hierarchy. Seeing this first hand has probably been one of the most formative experiences for me, and I will continue to preach this gospel wherever I go. Just add it to the long list of reasons Texas can suck my tits.
This is literally how the United States started competing so well in STEM. Literally the only good aspect of the assimilation that came about during the industrial revolution.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/media-resources/backstory-melting-pot-americans-assimilation
Is there something wrong with your tits?
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Probably not, honestly, but I truly can't think of a justification for making them illegal. How is outlawing diversity training and knowledge useful to anyone?
DEI exercises in other kids of businesses often seem like performative BS, if we're being honest -- IMHO, this is a really legitimate and simple question. Especially considering the impact bloated admin "costs" (salaries, etc) have on students & society (e.g. student loan debt).
Not reading all the way down, but just wanted to say I think it sucks that you got downvoted for this comment. You've got one less from me, anyways.
But also yeah, they do try and do things that really make a difference. Among other things, they make cross-campus connections to develop initiatives aimed at supporting students from under- represented groups -- not just race or ethnicity, but also things like low-income, first generation in your family to attend, etc.
Things like this can strongly correlate with more distractions, difficulties, and obstacles in students' lives, compared to observations of students from so-called "privileged" backgrounds. Not providing anything that those students from other backgrounds don't have access to -- quite the opposite actually.