University of South Carolina Requires Students to Affirm Value of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’
5th September 2024
The University of South Carolina required students to affirm the value of “diversity and inclusion” as part of a mandatory training this summer, underscoring the tenacity of diversity programs in the face of public blowback and raising concerns about compelled speech at a school that has marketed itself as a bastion of free expression.
In a module on “Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging,” which included 10 multiple choice questions, the training asked students how “diversity and inclusion help create a healthy, positive campus environment.” Students who said these values do not create such an environment—or that they give “unfair advantages” to “people from marginalized identity groups”—were told that their answers were “incorrect,” according to screenshots shared with the Washington Free Beacon by the First Amendment watchdog Speech First.
The right answer was that “diversity and inclusion exposes students to people from different backgrounds, thus enriching the overall campus experience.”
So does invading a random Middle Eastern country, but I doubt that the University of South Carolina would be up for that.