A new report claims that the majority of American colleges demand undergraduate students take classes related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) if they want to graduate and receive their degrees.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the claim comes from Speech First, a pro-Freedom of Speech organization, which analyzed the policies of 248 universities across the country. Speech First ultimately concluded that 67% of colleges require classwork involving DEI in order to “satisfy general education requirements.”
Students who take such classes are “subjected to courses advocating far-left ideological perspectives and pushing far-left political advocacy,” according to the report.
“Requiring students to take DEI courses in order to receive a diploma stifles genuine diversity of thought and undermines the principles of academic freedom,” said Cherise Trump, Executive Director of Speech First, in a statement on Thursday announcing the report. “When students are indoctrinated and coerced to this level, civic engagement dies.”
For purposes of classification, the report considers “DEI” to be any class that involves topics including, but not limited to: Social justice, racism, feminism, LGBTQ, Marxism, activism, intersectionality, ableism, and other forms of identity politics.
Speech First selected its universities by including those that have D1 sports programs, or spots on the U.S. News Ranking 2023 of Best National Universities, have endowments of over $1 billion, or are among the top 100 schools by undergraduate enrollment.
The rise of DEI has led to pushback from Republican lawmakers in Congress and across many states. Governors such as Greg Abbott (R-Texas) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) have taken steps to ban DEI, with the former banning DEI offices in all public universities, while the latter signed a bill restricting state funding to DEI programs at public schools.