DEI And Stanford’s Law School

To the uninitiated, the words diversity, equity and inclusion seem benign and even desirable. However, especially in academia, these words have morphed into far different meanings. Diversity is now used to refer to a preferred demographic group or to an individual if that person belongs to that group; your appearance or certain contrarian views defines you.  This is in contradistinction to a meritocracy where one’s knowledge, character and work ethic irrespective of appearance is valued.  Equity historically meant fairness, but now means equality of statistical outcomes for various racial, ethnic or gender groups, NOT of individuals. Inclusion now has come to mean equal proportionate group representation disregarding individual merit and our commonality as humans (Ref.1).
    The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy has become excessively rigid, acting as speech and thought police. With increasing frequency, they have encouraged student mob behavior silencing those with different viewpoints (Ref.2). As an example of their campus presence, the University of Michigan has 163 DEI officers, Ohio State and University of Virginia each have 94 and Georgia Tech 41, with the national average being 45. Recently Texas has enacted legislation affecting state universities/colleges to drastically diminish the number of DEI officers and their authority, insisting on adoption of the University of Chicago’s principles on freedom of expression (Ref.3). Other states and boards of directors should follow. Without the grievances of identity politics, the DEI movement would cease to exist (Ref.4). We divide and balkanize our melting pot society, creating animosity among various groups by focusing on our differences, while living in an era of ‘overabundance’.  To a person escaping from starvation and abuse in North Korea, the effect of these DEI distortions on teaching at one of America’s great centers of learning, Columbia University, is both baffling and tragic (Ref.5).
    National awareness of the bizarre effects of DEI officers in academia occurred at Stanford Law School. On March 9, 2023, Federal Appellate Court, 5th Circuit, Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan was to deliver a speech to the students. He had been invited by the school’s Federalist Society, whose members were later abused by many more law students for doing so.  These other students, Judging Duncan to be the embodiment of evil, packed the room and shouted slurs, such as, “I hope your daughters get raped”. Although the school has a free speech policy, the five administrators present did not demand the judge be accorded this courtesy. The Associate Dean for DEI, spoke from prepared remarks that the Judge’s findings were abhorrent, without discussing specific cases, and perhaps he is so evil that free speech should NOT be in force in this instance.  The President of the University and the Dean of the Law School later wrote apologies to the judge, after which many students protested their actions. The DEI Associate Dean has been placed on leave. Perhaps the best summary of this example of how far our universities have drifted from their mission is a quote by Judge Duncan from his description of the event published in the Wall Street Journal. “The most disturbing aspect of this shameful debacle is what it says about the state of legal education. Stanford is an elite law school. The protesters showed not the foggiest grasp of the basic concepts of legal discourse. That one must meet reason with reason not power. That jeering contempt is the opposite of persuasion. That the law protects the speaker from the mob, not the mob from the speaker. Worst of all, the DEI Assoc. Dean’s remarks made clear she is proud that Stanford students are being taught this is the way law should be.” (Ref.6,7)
      DEI ignores the need for individuality, critical thinking and the transferring of knowledge. We need every citizen to be able to contribute to our society to the full extent of each’s intellectual abilities. Presently, our education system is far from fulfilling this need.

1. Jay Schalin, The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Movement: Tyranny Through Subverting Language, The James G. Martin Center For Academic Renewal, March 15, 2021, available at: https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2021/03/the-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-movement-tyranny-through-subverting-language/ (accessed April 27, 2023)         
2. Rikki Schlott, More than half of college professors bite their tongues over cancel culture fears, New York Post, February 28, 2023, available at: https://nypost.com/2023/02/28/new-survey-reveals-college-professors-fear-of-being-canceled/
3. Robert J. Zimmer & Eric Issacs, Free Expression, The University of Chicago, 2023, available at: https://freeexpression.uchicago.edu/(accessed April 28, 2023
4. The Editors, The Tyranny of the DEI Bureaucracy, The WSJ, March 18, 2023, available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-kyle-duncan-stanford-law-school-tirien-steinbach-dei-students-babc2d49 (accessed March 19, 2023)
5. Yeonmi Park, While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search For Freedom In America, Threshold Editions/Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY, 10020, 2023, Chapters 2 &3, ISBN 978-1-6680-0331-2 5
6. Stuart Kyle Duncan, My Struggle Session at Stanford Law School, WSJ March 18, 2023, available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/struggle-session-at-stanford-law-school-federalist-society-kyle-duncan-circuit-court-judge-steinbach-4f8da19e?mod=opini  (accessed March 19, 2023)
7. GianCarlo Canaparo, That Tantrum at Stanford Law School and What to Do about It, The Daily Signal, March 14, 2023, available at: https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/03/14/that-tantrum-at-stanford-law-school-and-what-to-do-about-it/ (accessed March 16, 2023)

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