Mississippi universities are tamping down on programs explicitly designed to create more welcoming environments and boost participation among diverse student populations as Republican-led attacks mount against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce announced on Aug. 16 that the Oxford, Miss., institution was closing its Division of Diversity and Community Engagement to replace it with a new Division of Access, Opportunity and Community Engagement.
“We are proud of our access mission that gives all qualified Mississippi students the opportunity to earn a college degree,” Boyce said in the statement. “This proposed division will help students navigate the college experience and keep pace with their peers to persist and graduate. By focusing resources to help all students be successful, this will make us a better university.”
DEI programs are supposed to help and foster inclusion among students on campus, including not just students of color, but other underrepresented populations like LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities.
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Republican Mississippi State Auditor Shad White, who has long criticized state spending on DEI programs, expressed his thoughts on UM’s reorganization in an August 17 tweet.
“After years of me pointing out the waste and absurd spending at the University of Mississippi’s DEI office—from forums on the evils of ‘whiteness’ to their grants for equity-based preschool yoga (weird)—they announced yesterday they will voluntarily shut down. Good,” White said in the tweet. “But my concern is that Mississippi universities are not really closing their DEI offices and are instead just changing the name.”
DEI Came Under Fire After 2020 Protests
Efforts to promote diversity and combat racism have come under siege in the years since the 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd, along with the academic study of critical race theory. During the Black Lives Matter Movement, institutions of Higher Learning and many institutions in corporate America reaffirmed their commitments to DEI programs to help rectify systemic inequities in higher education. DEI programs, which are rooted in the anti-discrimination efforts that began during