{"id":125058,"date":"2023-03-29T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T04:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=125058"},"modified":"2023-03-28T23:42:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T03:42:14","slug":"south-carolina-universities-dei-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/south-carolina-universities-dei-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina public universities stay silent on DEI costs, but lawmaker says it’s $7.8 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

State lawmakers demanded info on state\u2019s DEI higher ed spending, one lawmaker said it is $7.8 million<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Two of South Carolina\u2019s largest public universities are remaining tightlipped on the amount of money they spend on diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs.<\/p>\n

South Carolina lawmakers earlier this year \u201crequested information from the state\u2019s 33 public colleges and universities regarding all spending on programs, trainings, and activities targeted toward people based on their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation,\u201d according<\/a> to the Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em>, adding the deadline for the institutions to turn over the data was Feb. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislators define diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as, among other things, attempts to take an official institutional policy on concepts such as unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, and microaggressions,” the Chronicle<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

Several recent requests by The College Fix<\/em> to Clemson University and the University of South Carolina regarding details about a requirement from lawmakers to tally just how much they spend on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and what they turned into legislators has gone unanswered.<\/p>\n

In response, The Fix<\/em> filed public information act requests with both of the schools for the information. On March 26, the University of South Carolina requested a small payment to process the records request. Clemson has yet to acknowledge the request.<\/p>\n

But the Chronicle of Higher Education <\/em>reported<\/a> March 14 that South Carolina Rep. Adam Morgan, a Republican, said “the state\u2019s 33 public colleges collectively reported spending about $7.8 million in total” on DEI activities.<\/p>\n

He said it during a “heated discussion in the South Carolina House of Representatives … to consider amendments to the chamber\u2019s state budget. One would have created an office to investigate colleges\u2019 spending on diversity. Several others would have stripped diversity funding from specific public colleges.”<\/p>\n

The request for DEI spending costs was billed as one part of the \u201cWar on DEI,\u201d according<\/a> to a report on Insight into Diversity.<\/em><\/p>\n

The article notes South Carolina is one among several states whose legislators have moved against diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory policies and programs in some way recently.<\/p>\n

Those states include Florida<\/a>, Texas<\/a>, Oklahoma<\/a> and Ohio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment overstep into higher education is a common fear among many DEI experts and advocates,\u201d Insight<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The legislature is] trying to get their foot in the door,\u201d Pat Heintzelman, president of the Texas Faculty Association, told the publication. \u201cIt won\u2019t just be these items. They\u2019ll want to control other areas of higher education as far as content. We are supposed to be experts in our field in order to teach in higher education. We ask that they just let us teach what we know. It\u2019s about academic freedom for us as well as the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

In South Carolina, Rusty Monhollon, president and executive director of the state\u2019s Commission on Higher Education, told the Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em> he did not know which state lawmakers legislators sought the DEI information or why.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have requests for information the entire year, so we\u2019re treating it as just another request at this time,\u201d Monhollon told the Chronicle<\/em>. He said the legislators were \u201cnot looking for an audit, just a general overview.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: DEI director fired after rejecting \u2018woke\u2019 ideology speaks out: \u2018I\u2019m not going quietly\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

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