Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Michigan
The University of Michigan, renowned as one of America’s leading public universities, emphasizes that its dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) is fundamentally linked to its pursuit of academic excellence. As part of this commitment, most students are required to enroll in at least one course that addresses issues of “racial and ethnic intolerance and the resulting inequalities.” Doctoral candidates in educational studies must participate in an “equity lab” and a specialized seminar focused on racial justice. Furthermore, students in computer science undergo assessments that include questions on microaggressions.
Programs throughout the university are framed in specific terminology that, according to proponents of D.E.I., encapsulates effective strategies for fostering inclusive classroom environments. In contrast, critics argue that this language is deeply imbued with leftist ideologies. For instance, Michigan’s largest academic division offers training for professors in “antiracist pedagogy” and provides resources on “Identifying and Addressing Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture,” which lists traits such as the “worship of the written word.” The engineering school pledges to provide a “pervasive education around issues of race, ethnicity, unconscious bias, and inclusion.”
- At the university’s art museum, exhibit captions for American and European art acknowledge histories of oppression, even in pieces that may not seem directly related to those narratives.
- The English department has embraced a 245-word land acknowledgment, characterizing its primary subject as a language introduced by colonizers in North America.
- Even the business school, according to its D.E.I. webpage, asserts its commitment to combatting “all forms of oppression.”
Approximately a decade ago, the leaders at Michigan launched an ambitious D.E.I. initiative, aiming to bring about “far-reaching foundational change at every level, in every unit.” The university strives to reach “every individual on campus,” as stated in their communications. Since 2016, Michigan has invested around a quarter of a billion dollars into D.E.I. efforts, as revealed in an internal presentation that I accessed. A 2021 report from the conservative Heritage Foundation, which examined the expansion of D.E.I. programs across higher education, identified Michigan as having by far the most extensive D.E.I. bureaucracy among large public universities. Tens of thousands of undergraduates have participated in bias training, and thousands of instructors have undergone training in inclusive teaching methodologies.
When Michigan introduced what it now refers to as D.E.I. 1.0, it deliberately positioned itself at the forefront of a transformative movement that was reshaping higher education across the United States. Nationwide, college administrators were rapidly scaling up D.E.I. initiatives, believing that such programs would aid in attracting and retaining a more diverse array of students and faculty members.