When schools run out of money, the diversity departments will be one of the first to go. This should surprise no one.
Campus Reform reports:
Purdue consolidates amid budget concerns, professors upset about diversity departmentsThe Purdue University Board of Trustees is consolidating 16 academic departments into six over budgetary concerns.As one might expect, faculty members are opposed to the move. But their concerns are not entirely academic-related. Rather, they are concerned that the university is consolidating diversity programs focused on “minoritized and marginalized communities.”On August 4, the School of Interdisciplinary Studies told several department heads that they were relieved of their positions, according to the Perdue Exponent. The program stated that the decision was based on budgetary concerns related to the pandemic.“We are essentially broke,” the communication reportedly stated.Global Studies Director Tithi Bhattacharya, who was informed that her position was being eliminated, is concerned that many of the women who lost their posts were women of color, according to the report. She also noted that five of the six new division leads are men.Maren Linnet, director of the “critical disability studies program,” was also relieved of her position and informed that her department would be incorporated into a new “Race, Gender and Intersectionality” division. She pointed out that the sixth new division lead is a white woman.The day after Purdue’s announcement, Bhattacharya launched a petition that has gained almost 4,000 signatures.
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