At Virginia Tech, diversity = inviolable lockstep.
Say what?
Virginia Tech to Demand ‘Diversity’ Conformity by Vote"Mandatory diversity."
The Torch
Suppose the provost at your college started a new "patriotism" initiative. In the first year, he would permit faculty members to self-report their "patriotism accomplishments." In the second year, faculty members would be strongly encouraged to report their "patriotism accomplishments" on their annual reports of their activities. In the third year, faculty members would be told that "patriotism accomplishments are especially important for faculty seeking tenure and promotion," and dossiers for tenure and promotion would include a multi-part section on "patriotism."
Or put the word "Christianity" in place of "patriotism." Suppose the provost tells all faculty, graduate students, and tenure and review committees that Christian activities are something they can choose to report in their self-assessments. After three years, there is a "Christian accomplishments" section in the tenure dossier, a list of approved activities, and strong pressure to incorporate Christian themes into faculty members' research, teaching, and professional development.
Do you think this kind of thing couldn't happen at a public university? It's been happening at Virginia Tech. Just change "patriotism" or "Christianity" to a different matter of individual conscience: dedication to "diversity." FIRE, the National Association of Scholars, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, the student newspaper, and others have all come out strongly against Virginia Tech's coercive policy of pressuring faculty to show their commitment to "diversity" in their research, teaching, and professional development.
If you wouldn't stand for a mandatory "patriotism" or "Christianity" assessment for faculty merit raises, promotion, and tenure, you can't stand for a mandatory "diversity" assessment either. And neither can the First Amendment. [link]
Mandatory diversity.
Read the whole thing. Then go to "Mark Bauerlein on Virginia Tech Diversity Requirement for Faculty Assessment."
Then read "FIRE Letter to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University President Charles W. Steger."
And "FIRE Calls on Virginia Tech to Abandon New Political Litmus Test for Faculty."
Then, if you haven't been frightened enough, go to "Commitment to Diversity as a Job Requirement."
This, friends, is sobering stuff.
Virginia Tech. What has this once-superlative institution of higher learning, this former bastion of individual freedoms, this oasis where the sanctity of reason and conscience were championed, come to?