Oklahoma Public Universities Face Scrutiny After Spending More Than $80 Million on DEI

Oklahoma Public Universities Face Scrutiny After Spending More Than $80 Million on DEI

This is just one of the reasons why so many taxpayers reject the idea of paying off student loan debt for others.

The College Fix reports:

Oklahoma public universities under scrutiny after spending $83.4 million on DEI

Oklahoma’s public universities have poured over $83.4 million into diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives over the last decade, leading critics — including some state lawmakers, conservative watchdogs and alumni — to call for DEI to be defunded in the Sooner State.

They argue it’s a waste of money, has created divisive campus atmospheres, and is possibly unconstitutional.

The $83.4 million is the sum of all the DEI spending by Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities since the 2013-14 school year, a figure provided by campus leaders after State Superintendent Ryan Walters demanded the information earlier this year.

Line-item details showed that DEI events at Oklahoma colleges “have included funding for drag-queen performances, a program on fostering ‘Trans and Non‐Binary Resilience,’ so-called ‘antiracist’ training, and a presentation on ‘Black Jesus,’” the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs reported.

During the 2022-23 academic year, the schools spent over $10 million on DEI activities and payroll costs — the highest amount in the last 10 years and up from $7.1 million in 2013-14, the campus officials reported.

The spending has prompted some major Oklahoma donors to yank their funding, and over the summer some Republican state lawmakers proposed a resolution to defund DEI in higher education.

Most recently, in mid-October, the Oklahoma Senate Education Committee hosted a study discussion highlighting the harmful effects of diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, a lengthy meeting that featured a parade of scholarly experts who criticized DEI.

Among the speakers was Manhattan Institute scholar Ilya Shapiro, a constitutional law expert, who co-authored a policy paper earlier this year calling for the abolition of DEI.

In an interview with The College Fix, Shapiro said that while the idea of DEI is nice, the “way these structures have been implemented, it means the opposite, in a very Orwellian-like way.”

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