In the past few years we have seen incredible, asinine, insane, and – frankly – dangerous movements in higher education. I’ve had my own run-in with Snopes, who has continued to double-down on the notion that there’s absolutely nothing wrong or strange going on in Higher Education. But this is no hoax – it is getting to be impossible to find schools that actually take their academic charter seriously any longer. Instead, we are now looking at Kindergartens for Young Adults, with all the corresponding warm fuzzies, nap times, and hand-holding related to it.
The inclusion of “Diversity” doesn’t really sound so bad, though, does it? After all, in academia you want differing viewpoints. You want to have a marketplace of ideas, and you can only have that if there is the opportunity for a diverse set of views that can emerge to fight for their merit.
However, that’s not what “Diversity” means. In fact, the only thing “diversity” does not mean in these situations is the diversity of ideas.
No, this is what is meant by “Diversity:”
Diversity in the curriculum refers to the study of one or more groups that have been historically marginalized on the basis of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, religion, age, immigration, or geopolitical power. Diversity-designated courses facilitate academic inquiry, analysis and understanding of past and current differences, conflicts and relations of power, thereby moving the discourse of diversity beyond mere tolerance, celebration, or appreciation.
It is this definition upon which the foundation of the Victim Olympics is established. This is the codifcation of the upside-down world of academia – those who have no value actually have the most value. Dissent isn’t just allowed, it’s persecuted.
Welcome to the Re-education Centers.
Here is a list of schools you may want your college-age children to avoid. I’m including only those schools that have created institutional policies of blatant favoritism, sexism, and racism in the name of Social Justice, not individuals or groups that have behaved atrociously (the list would be too long). So, for example, students who refuse to be housed with white students at Claremont College will not be part of this list (but the school shows up anyway for different reasons). I intend to update this page periodically with new information over time, too.
Links were valid at the time of their inclusion.
Alaska
University of Alaska: Fairbanks
University conducts year-long sexual harassment investigation over an April Fool’s article. No wrongdoing was found. [link] However, they’ve appealed to make sure they find something. [link]
California
California State University: Chico
Students are required to complete a minimum of two courses that focus primarily on cultural diversity. List of the courses available are here.
California State University: Los Angeles
University has established “African-American-priority housing in response to demands from black students seeking refuge from what they consider insensitive remarks and “microaggressions” from their white classmates.” [link]
Chapman University
Like nearly all programs, the University promotes its own version of Newspeak, where the “participants will be introduced to the concepts of people-first and coded language, and will develop an awareness of non-inclusive language that negatively affects members of the Chapman community.” The stated end-goal consists of a not-so-veiled threat of punitive action: “individuals will have the knowledge to speak inclusively and to actively advocate for communities or identities often targeted by non-inclusive language.” You’ve been taught, so expect consequences if you use non-inclusive language! [link]
Claremont McKenna College
College has established safe spaces, but are highly exclusive and authorized by the Colleges “Diversity” Department. [link]
Ryerson University
University created a safe space, but only for those who are not white and male. [link]
Pomona College
College sponsors “Safe Space” events – but promotes the exclusion of students based upon race and gender. [link]
University of California: Berkeley
The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) “established guidelines in order to create a “Safe Space” to protect “Person of Color” and “Gender Queer” student residents from potential discrimination” by establishing language guidelines to protect against privilege and other “unsafe activities.” [link]
University of California: Davis
2016.09.08. University establishes black-only university housing. [link] [University Policy]
University of California: Irvine
University administration suspended the College Republicans student group under punitive, capricious and arbitrary charges after hosting Milo Yiannopoulos, where no rioting or confrontations took place. [link]
University of California: Los Angeles (UCLA)
2015.04.13. Students will be required to earn at least a C in a course that “substantially addresses racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, religious or other types of diversity.” [link]
University of Southern California (USC)
“The diversity requirement must be met by all students who began college at USC or elsewhere in fall 1993 or later. It can be met by passing any one course carrying the designation “m” for multiculturalism. You may view current diversity course offerings in the Schedule of Classes” [link]
University of Calfiornia: San Diego
Requires diversity courses for graduation. [link] List of courses to choose from here.
Cut off all funding to a satirical student newspaper after it published an article mocking the concept of “safe spaces” on campus. [link] Administration’s statement: [link]
University created a “Safe Space Allies” program complete with Participation Ribbon. Evidently allies can show this sign to people, because students “need” the support in order to “succeed at the University of San Diego.” [link]
University of the Pacific
Students are required to take at least one officially designated diversity course. This requirement is retroactive to all students who have enrolled since 2010. [link]
Colorado
Colorado College
Suspended a student over a joke about Black Lives Matter. For 21 months. [link]
University of Colorado: Boulder
2015.12.20. Must complete 3 semester hours (one course) that fulfill the graduation requirement for the College of Arts & Sciences. “Courses in this area are designed to expand the range of each student’s understanding of the experience of individuals and groups who, because of such fundamental components of identity as race, ethnicity, gender, or other characteristics, have been historically marginalized by society and placed outside the mainstream.” [link]
Colorado Mesa University
Has created an official Safe Place/Zone program. [link]
Connecticut
University of Connecticut
2016.02.02. Has created black-only housing. [link]
Wesleyan University
The student newspaper wrote a column critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, resulting in student activists circulating a petition for the student government to defund the paper unless specific demands were met. [link] Needless to say, the student government caved and voted to defund the newspaper. [link]
Yale
Faculty voted to prohibit “offensive” costumes. Another professor wrote that it was dangerous to be “too sensitive.” A riot occurred, and Yale permitted this to happen with no consequences:
As a result, the school attempted to fire the professors. After ongoing harassment, the professors resigned from the college to pursue academic work full time. [link]
Georgia
Armstrong State University
University established a two-hour “workshop meant to raise awareness and knowledge of LGBTQ issues, as well as suggest ways to better serve as an ally of the LGBT community. After completing this workshop, participants receive a Safe Space decal to display at their workplace, letting students, faculty and staff know that they are supportive allies. One of the several things this program covers is the recognition of appropriate and inclusive language regarding sex, gender and sexual orientation” [link] Oh goodie. Another Participation Ribbon.
Illinois
DePaul University
Required students to pay for a speech event (unconstitutional), and encouraged SJW protesters to intimidate, threaten, and harass an invited speaker. [link] Milo wants his money back as the administration forced him to pay for added security guards and then pointedly prevented the guards from providing security. [link]
University Administrators bans speakers with whom it disagrees – often. [link]
Loyola University
The University sponsors “Safe Space Workshops” for LGBTQIA (“the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual”) community, in order to provide – among other things – “Skills to interrupt heterosexist and cissexist behaviors and attitudes.” They also help LGBTQIA identity development, which isn’t surprising since they’ll have to re-learn how to have an identity every time they add a letter to the acronym. [link]
Moraine Valley Community College
College added several black student-only courses that were designed to help students learn to study and plot career goals. [link] They later decided to table that decision… for now.
Northwestern University
When feminist professor Laura Kipnis wrote an essay cautioning on the overuse of Title IX investigations for chilling of free speech, Northwestern launched a Title IX violation against her. [link]
University of Chicago
Department of Social Service Administration has posted a list of their courses. The first one, of many, on the list is “Intersectional Approaches to Social Work with LGBTQIA Individuals and Communities.” [link]
Iowa
Iowa State University
List of U.S. Diversity Courses that qualify for the degree requirement. No really, you might want to read this list. [link]
University of Iowa
The Board of Regents voted to approve the social justice degree program. [link]
Louisiana
Louisiana State University
University has begun firing professors based upon the Department of Education’s overbroad guidance on Sexual Harassment, without providing specific information about the charges and eliminating due process. [link]
Maryland
Mount St. Mary’s University
University President wishes to survey the freshmen class and dismiss 20-25% of the lowest performing students. Tenured faculty member and faculty advisor for student newspaper for publishing and dissenting from this policy. [link]
Massachusetts
Harvard University
The Harvard Law school decided to break from the University’s oversight and begin to investigate its own student sexual harassment cases. [link] Apparently, the Law School thought it could adjudicate its own legal problems better than the University despite being foundin Violation of Title IX after a years-long probe. [link]
Suffolk University
Don’t quite have a grip on your “privilege?” Want to learn about all the new and glorious ways to hate yourself? Fear not! Suffolk University offers training courses on how to “critically examine your identity,” as well as not one, not two, but three courses on Safe Zone trainings. Not only that, but Suffolk invites faculty, staff, and students to join in the “Yes Means Yes” training, where you can “explore how dynamics of power and privilege impact interpersonal relationships. [link] Don’t know what that actually means? Here’s an actual (not satire) video that can help you understand. I dare you to try to make it to the end without cringing. Hell, I dare you to make it to the end!
University of Massachusetts: Amherst
2016.04.25. Students rae required to take at least two diversity courses: “one dealing with diversity in the United States and the other with diversity globally.” Students are compelled “to engage with others to create change toward social justice.” [link]
Michigan
Wayne State University
2016.06.14. Deletes requirement that students must complete at least one math course, to be replaced with diversity class. The school says that math isn’t needed. [link]
Minnesota
Concordia College
University has set up a “Safe Space Initiative” “for all members of our community regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity”, as long as they are “LGBT+.” They “believe that social justice can be done through terminating hostile discrimination and creating a nonjudgmental environment. From a psychological perspective, this allows every individual to cultivate a healthy self-identity and to nurture genuine relationships.” [link] No word on how fabricating a contrived environment nurtures “genuine relationships,” but sure, let’s go with that.
Saint Mary’s University
Fired a professor after he translated Seneca’s Medea and then worked with the drama department to put on an authentic production of the play. [link] The official explanation is that he was terminated for sexual harassment, but never explained to him the details of his supposed misconduct. [link]
University of St. Thomas
Required graduation courses “fulfilling the human diversity requirement consider ways in which preconceptions, stereotypes, and assumptions held by a particular individual, as well as that individual’s position within structures of privilege, affect understanding of issues related to diversity. In addition, the course addresses ways in which power and privilege operate at the institutional/systemic level. These courses address at least two of the following areas of inquiry: race and ethnicity, gender, religion, class, sexual orientation, disability status, or geopolitical status.” [link]
Missouri
University of Missouri
2016.03.24. After showing that they may have a clue by firing Melissa Click, Mizzou doubles down on moving away from academics by requiring “diversity intensive” courses for graduation. [link]
Nevada
University of Nevada: Reno
List of courses available to complete the diversity course graduation requirement [link] These include, but are not limited to, “Civil Engineering for a Sustainable Society” and “Struggle for Justice.”
New Jersey
Princeton
University HR department bans use of the word “man.” [link]
New York
Hamilton College
2016.07.26. College has adopted a new curriculum requirement that all concentrations, or majors, feature relevant, mandatory, course work on diversity. [link]
Syracuse University
Expelled a student for a Facebook comment. [link]
Threatened students with disciplinary action if they wore “offensive” Halloween costumes. [link]
Investigated a law student for a satirical blog about the law school. [link]
A culture of fear exists (as it often does) in the faculty, where faculty sponsors were intimidated into disinviting an Israeli filmmaker out of fear that activists may be upset that the film involved Israel. [link]
North Carolina
Davidson College
The College has created The Spencer Weinstein Center for Community and Justice, which contains Safe Spaces for Black Students and LGBTQ students. [link] as well as special tenure and promotion programs for “Faculty of Color.” [link]
The College has a Diversity requirement, where – I’m not making this up – students are instructed to search for qualifying courses using the codeword “CULT.” [link] Courses that qualify include “Millenial East Asia,” and “Syrian Television Drama.”
Duke University
DU’s Sanford School of Public Policy created a room called the “Sanford Safe Space,” in order to – you can only shake your head at this – offer an alternative to “effective debate.” [link] No, really: the co-chair of the Sanford Committee on Diversity and Inclusion said that people need to “heal” for characteristics “like their skin color or their religion, their immigration status or whether they’re from another country.”
Administration officials disinvited an Islamic feminist to speak after the Muslim Student Association complained she was an Islamophobic sympathizer. [link] In the author’s own words here.
University administrators raise student fees in order to pay for sex reassignment surgery. [link]
Ohio
Cleveland State University
University has established a “Safe Space” program… but only for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) students. [link] “Questioning?
Kent State University
University has established a “Safe Space/Zone” for LGBTQ students, complete with an approved lexicon for “LGBTQ Vocabulary 101,” where “participants will have the opportunity to confront the idea of privilege.” [link] This comes complete with a participation ribbon (no, I’m not kidding) and web page of people who have completed the training and want to be listed on the site as an “ally.”
Oberlin College
After faculty protests, Oberlin temporarily backed off its draconian “Trigger Warning” policy, which would in turn trigger (pun intended, but can you think of a better word?) a sexual harrassment lawsuit. [link]
University of Cincinnati
2016.07.11. University now requires applicants pledge commitment to ‘diversity and inclusion.’ [link] [UoC’s Statement]
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
University President unilaterally expelled two members of a fraternity for their “leadership role in leading a racist and exclusionary chant.” [link]
University of Tulsa
This is a good one. University suspends a student over a Facebook comment that his fiancé wrote. [link] They found him guilty of harassment and retaliation for telling his fiancé about it. [link] The university then targeted the student newspaper and its editors for covering the suspension. [link]
Pennsylvania
Penn State University
2016.07.27. Announces a Masters Degree in Social Justice. [link]
Rhode Island
Brown University
Supported initiative to install Tampons in non-residential bathrooms on campus, because “not all people who menstruate are women.” [link]
South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University offers a “Safe Zone Program” along with – you guessed it – a Participation Ribbon for those “who have completed the training and wish to be listed as an ally.” Unfortunately, though, the Participation Ribbon is only valid for three years. [link]
Utah
University of Utah
List of Diversity Courses that meet the obligatory diversity requirement for graduation. It includes, among others, a course called ‘Finding out” {huh?) and “Feminist Economics.” [link]
Virginia
Virginia Tech
2015.07.10. To get tenure at VA Tech you must show proof of ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion.’ [link]
Washington
Gonzaga University
2016.09.06. Melissa Click is hired, ostensibly after a “extensive national search process that revealed her to be the most qualified and experienced candidate for the position.” To be fair, job requirement included assault threats on undergrads as among “other duties required. [link] It does not appear that everyone at Gonzaga is happy about this, either. [link]
Green River College
“Diversity in the curriculum refers to the study of one or more groups that have been historically marginalized on the basis of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, religion, age, immigration, or geopolitical power. Diversity-designated courses facilitate academic inquiry, analysis and understanding of past and current differences, conflicts and relations of power, thereby moving the discourse of diversity beyond mere tolerance, celebration, or appreciation. Green River students entering in Fall 2011 and after (under the 2011-13 catalog) must take at least one diversity-designated course in order to receive an AA degree. See Courses for a list of approved courses.” [link] Sounds like these courses leave lots of room for more than one view on the matter, doesn’t it?
University of Washington
Requires students to take a minimum of 3 credits “that focus on the sociocultural political, and/or economic diversity of the human experience at local, regional, or global levels.” [UoW’s Statement]
Washington, D.C
American University
American University’s “Safe Space Workshop” “seeks to create a safer and more inclusive environment on campus through reducing heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia.” “This toolkit is filled with resources related to understanding LGBTQA identities, heterosexism, and homophobia. These resources also provide information on how to be an ally and some reflection on privilege and oppression.” It focuses on “educational programming” that covers “Trans*101, Unmasking Your Privilege, and Creating Inclusive Communities” – as long as you are LGBTQA. Apparently, unlike the Loyola University of Chicago, Intersexed students need not apply. [link]
West Virginia
West Virginia University
University has created a “Safe Zone” for LGBTQ issues, because “while other members of minority groups can often identify mentors and role models, the invisibility of sexual orientation makes it difficult for WVU students, faculty, and staff who are LGBTQ to identify those to whom they can safely turn for support, advocacy, and information.” [link]
University has created a “Safe Zone” for Secular Students, designed to help allies understand and assist secular students on their way to establishing confident secular identities, who will in turn help build a more accepting and just society [link]
Wisconsin
Marquette University
Despite not actually accusing him of any actual crime, the University moved to fire a tenured professor, claiming that he committed “serious instances of … dishonorable, irresponsible, or incompetent conduct.” [link] Worse, the university began a concerted smear campaign against McAdams, offering no actual evidence to support its claims. [link] Indeed, the university suggested that McAdams’ presence was a threat to “the safety of our students and campus community” and that they need to prevent him from “subjecting students to any form of abuse, putting them in harm’s way.” [link] This was all over a discussion of gay marriage in someone else’s class. [link]
University of Wisconsin: River Falls
Two diversity courses must be completed for graduation. Course topics include: “The politics of equality and inequality in the United States,” “Diversity in Early Childhood,” and, um, “World Puppetry.” [link] Actually, I’d like to take that World Puppetry course, but I have a feeling it’s going to have some sort of Marxist twist…
Wyoming
University of Wyoming
“The goal of the U.S. cultural diversity requirement is to prepare students to recognize the continuing importance of categories of identity while at the same time understanding how historically contingent and unstable these categories are. In these courses students explore the complexity of cultural identities in the U.S. and interdependence of these cultures. Students will gain an understanding of the influences of categories such as race, class, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and age on American behaviors, institutions, values, and beliefs.” [link]