Has the Massachusetts Institute of Technology taken an unprecedented step for a woke University? It says it will no longer demand that faculty swear an oath – in writing – to the pantheon of gods known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth reportedly said,
“My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here,” Kornbluth said. “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.”
So, inclusivity suddenly means people should be free to express their objections to the intolerant bullying of the “diversity” culture.
Prior to the change, MIT required candidates applying for faculty positions to submit a statement that “demonstrates knowledge of challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion” as well as outlining their “track record of working with diverse groups of people” and how they plan to advance DEI in their position at the school,…”
Elsewhere in the White Tower Universe.
Last month, a Harvard Law School professor penned a column in the Harvard Crimson urging the Ivy League to eliminate its mandatory DEI statements, arguing that they force faculty and staff to “toe a political line.”
“I am a scholar on the left committed to struggles for social justice,” Randall L. Kennedy wrote. “The realities surrounding mandatory DEI statements, however, make me wince. The practice of demanding them ought to be abandoned, both at Harvard and beyond.”
Talk is cheap. We’ve seen advocates for the CRT/DEI/LGBTP cabal make claims about academic freedom, but until you rein in the zombie horde of triggered whiners posing as students, this isn’t going to mean much. MIT has more than its fair share of diverse staff who, true to form, are what you’d expect.
MIT welcomed six new deans of diversity, equity, and inclusion, one for each of the institute’s main schools, as part of a “DEI Strategic Action Plan” launched the previous year. Aimed at boosting the representation of women and minorities, in part by developing DEI criteria for staff performance reviews, the plan pledged to “make equity central” to the university “while ensuring the highest standards of excellence.”
But according to a 71-page complaint filed with the university on Saturday, at least two of the six DEI officials may not be living up to those standards. The complaint alleges that Tracie Jones-Barrett and Alana Anderson are serial plagiarists, copying entire pages of text without attribution and riding roughshod over MIT’s academic integrity policies.
Cheaters and liars.
So they don’t have to swear allegiance to secular gods or diminished standards, but can you get them to encourage intellectual diversity? Will you punish faculty and students who cheat or lie or actively suppress free expression through threats of intimidation and mob justice regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or any other “enumerated” class?
Ending oaths to partisan cultural affectations looks nice, but I’m not convinced you are all in on protecting diversity of opinion. Until you do, are potential faculty with ideas outside the campus culture norm supposed to feel like they or like-minded students can speak freely?
I don’t think so.
