Major higher ed accreditation group moves to delete DEI from standards
https://www.thecollegefix.com/major-higher-ed-accreditation-group-moves-to-delete-dei-from-standards/
By Jennifer Kabbany Fix Editor published 9 December 2024 in The College Fix.
A major West Coast higher education accreditor is moving to delete references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its accreditation standards and replace it with an emphasis on “institutional excellence and success for all students.”
The proposal from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges comes after President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign vowed to “fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics.”
According to WASC, the proposed changes to the 2023 Standards of Accreditation have been put forth simply to “ensure that the Standards are easy to understand and apply in practice.”
“The refined language enhances the Standards’ clarity and focus while retaining their original intent and foundational principles,” the group’s website states.
The “refined language” would delete references to DEI, according to a side-by-side comparison provided by WASC.
For example, under the revise, one standard changes the line from “promotes the success of all students and makes explicit its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion” to “promotes institutional excellence and success for all students.”
Another change would revise a standard that calls on the institution to realize “its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion” to having it achieve “its objectives for educational excellence and success for all students.”
The changes have prompted alarm from PEN America, which wrote to the group that it is concerned about removing or altering language “in the face of an incoming president who has threatened to ‘fire the accreditors.'”
“…This sends a message that universities will voluntarily alter their values or adapt and contort themselves to suit the ideological whims of politicians,” PEN America’s letter states. “We are concerned that the proposed changes to the Standards may be doing just that: complying with ideological restrictions before the government actually imposes them.”
As The College Fix recently reported, most of the major higher education accreditors are moving toward a more apolitical stance amid Trump’s pending return to the White House.
MORE: Trump pledges to ‘fire radical left accreditors’ to reform higher ed
IMAGE: WASC screenshot
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