This is the last hurrah before the Trump administration takes over. They’re trying to hold on to Obama’s legacy.
Campus Reform reports:
Obama WH looks to protect social justice efforts from TrumpThe U.S. Secretary of Education wants colleges to go even further in pursuit of social justice, suggesting “implicit bias” trainings, safe spaces, and additional resources for “underrepresented communities.”In a “Dear Colleague” letter sent Friday, Secretary of Education John King, Jr. begins by praising the diversity efforts already being undertaken in academia, but asserts that “we have far more work left to do—beyond supporting diversity through admissions and enrollment alone—to ensure that our campuses are safe, inclusive, and supportive environments.”To assist college and university administrators with the task, King includes a link to a new report on Advancing Diversity & Inclusion in Higher Education, saying it is intended not only to “celebrate the Obama Administration’s efforts to advance diversity and inclusion,” but also as a blueprint for additional steps that can be taken in pursuit of those goals.Of particular concern to King is the “not uncommon” problem of racial bias and discrimination, which he says “affects underrepresented students’ sense of belonging and may cause them to drop out before they finish their educations,” and which schools are legally required to remedy in a prompt and effective manner.At the same time, though, he also concedes that public institutions of higher learning have a concurrent obligation to protect free speech rights on campus, and suggests that more schools emulate the practice of establishing safe spaces and free speech zones so that students can “come together for open dialogue on issues of diversity and inclusion, while also creating spaces for students to demonstrate and express their opposition.”
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