In college, it is imperative that students feel welcomed and can explore new connections in an environment reflective of the diverse nation we live in. To ensure the comfort of minority students and the ability for these students to participate in and have equitable consideration for campus offerings, many universities across the United States have implemented Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs to create safer and more welcoming campuses. Many of these programs are government-funded. However, recent DEI bans enacted by conservative policymakers from several states, including Texas and Florida, have led to the abolition of many of these inclusive programs, diminishing the reputability and quality of public colleges in those states.
Critics of DEI programs believe that they are not worth taxpayer dollars, and a Texas bill states that banning DEI programs will ”put an end to all activities that discriminate against students based on their race, ethnicity, or gender.” However, this statement is extremely misguided, as the students that the office states are being “discriminate[d]” against are the ones who never needed the support in the first place. In reality, what the Texas state office fails to recognize is how detrimental banning inclusionary programs will be to college campuses.
By removing this pathway for colleges to spend money and effort on ensuring that students who were previously isolated based on their identity are included in schoolwide activities and feel at home in the college environment, many students would lack a quality education and experience.
If the discontinuation of these programs spreads further throughout the nation, we will likely see staggering numbers of qualified and intelligent students dropping out of college as they feel they are in an unsafe and unsupported environment. In a nation where we value education so highly, these once motivated students will now be placed at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives.
Additionally, not only will banning DEI programs directly hurt the students for whom these were implemented in the first place, but it will also convert previously accepting environments into ones of exclusion and prejudice. For example, curriculum changes as a result of DEI bans could lead to the removal of courses that allow students to learn about different identities, leading them to absorb implicit bias towards members of these groups and become ignorant of cultures outside their own.
DEI bans not only affect students directly by removing necessary pillars of their colleges dedicated to ensuring their inclusion, but they also remove support for faculty from diverse backgrounds. If students see people whom they identify with in positions of power and are supported by their employers, students are more likely to apply for such positions and continue with their studies. With students from minority groups straying away from career fields that they have not been exposed to or welcomed in, the workforce in those fields will also lack diversity.
DEI programs are essential to combat this, and the allocation of government budget to do so is necessary to ensure a diverse student body and successful workforce. Bans on these programs inhibit student opportunities in their desired fields and demonstrate that the government does not view their success as worthy of attention. State governments must ensure that all students are equitably represented in educational environments and to do so, they must reverse their DEI bans and instead put even more attention on ensuring that the students they have hurt by doing so are placed back into a welcoming and supportive academic environment.
