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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Publicly funded University of Tennessee (UT) has been working to implement sweeping diversity policies since the death of George Floyd in 2020. Some say Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly have been slow to address the growing anti-white crisis.
House Bill 2670/Senate Bill 2290 was signed into law this April by Governor Bill Lee but critics say it doesn’t go far enough in stemming the tide of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) ideologies. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25) and Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville-District 9), prohibits public institutions of higher education from requiring that students or employees embrace “divisive teaching” as a stipulation for any grade, diploma, employment opportunity, or tenure.
Additionally, public universities cannot mandate any trainings that include one or more divisive concepts, and they cannot use state-appropriated funds to provide incentives to faculty members who include such teachings in their curricula.
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The National Association of Scholars (NAS) released a report that examined the implementation of DEI action plans at UT that they acquired through a public records request. In the report, author and NAS Research Associate John Sailer said, “The University of Tennessee’s Diversity Action Plans are nothing short of a blueprint for an institutional overhaul.” Sailor predicts that “True education will erode. Indoctrination will flourish.”
In a series of Twitter posts, Sailer outlines what the DEI plans mean for various colleges within UT.
In the College of Social Work, anti-racism and social justice content is to be worked into curricula, Critical Race Theory is promised to be adopted as a framework, and a whole new “social justice minor” is in the works.
Students in the College of Engineering will be required to write a two-page essay reflecting their biases while the College of Law promises to assess its curriculum for “issues related to social justice, equity, and elimination of bias.”
According to the new law, should UT follow through with these plans, students and employees may be eligible to pursue legal remedies.
UT’s budget from last year included $684 million in appropriations from the state. Almost $100 per person in Tennessee.
In June of 2020, UT-Knoxville chancellor Donde Plowman urged colleagues to read Ibram X. Kendi’s book How to be an Antiracist and has been leading the charge for DEI to be implemented across the board.
Plowman, who is the second-highest paid chancellor in the UT system recently received an almost 25% increase in pay in July. The $160,000 raise puts her annual salary at $820,000 a year and places her in the 75th percentile for university chancellors across the country. She is an appointee of UT’s president Randy Boyd who has stated that he believes Plowman to be “one of the best” chancellors in the country, “if not the best in the country.”
Boyd is himself an appointee of the UT Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees has 11 voting members who are all appointed by Governor Bill Lee. Of that 11, 10 also must be confirmed by the Tennessee General Assembly.
It remains to be seen whether the law that the Republican majority passed will be enough to arrest DEI policies within the UT system.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
9 Responses
I’m sure the alumni are so proud of this legacy. The glory days are over. Parents stop funding your children’s socialist, anti-American, and racists indoctrination at colleges where the administration hates you and your offspring. As a taxpayer, I want my $100 back. Fire these commies at the university immediately. Gov. Lee (and the board) , are you paying attention at all?
Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis are purple pustules of MarxistDemocrst academics . I can’t speak for UT Martin, Jackson, Cookeville, or MTSU but I opine MTSU my alma mater is not far behind. Had a couple of pissant way left polisci professors there in mid70’s. Not sanguine academia can be salvaged or public schools cleansed unless $$$ is removed from the equation and milqtoast republicans get cohones.
WTH! I left a Blue state to get away from this type of horrible socialist agenda. So disappointed to see it reappearing here in Tennessee.
Being familiar w. TN legislature they will come up w. another weak bill and send it to Summer Study
Instead of one that reads, any education employee at all levels of instruction,(K-PHD) library and administration will be subject to termination of employment and loss of all retirement benefits if they are to promote any methods of CRT, MARXISM ECT.; And furthermore every grade level and higher education at least one semester each year of American history and the failure of socialist, marxist teachings and practices.
American history will be instructed in sequence not by individual subjects or preferences
But that would be just too much for politicians and special interests would freak out at loss of dedicated special funding and donations
Excellent report on what has been developing in the UT system for decades.
Formerly, civics was about the constitution and the limitations of the Federal Government, the sovereignty of the states and the people, and the rights and obligations of the citizens, based on natural law and Judeo/Christian principles.
Tragically, civics education has become activism to promote division, distrust, and socialistic ideologies antithetical to our constitution.
I agree with the last comment: Don’t pay to have your kids indoctrinated by anti-American elitists. Dry up the revenues that afford $800,000 salaries to purveyors of hate and division.
What we need in Tennessee is a conservative PAC to target centrist/tepid conservative lawmakers in the legislature by supporting their conservative primary challengers in Republican primaries. We have too many seat warmers in the Republican delegation in the General Assembly whose only function is to get roads built in their district and make the world safe for members of the Chamber of Commerce while hiding in the tall grass when other issues arise.
Why are Tennessee tax payers still funding this agenda?
How are we ever going to have equal races when counter racism is being pushed?
The college professors and administrators’ need to be told to stop this liberal rhetoric or
they will be fired!
Is not this Reverse racism that the left shouts so much about?? Send your adult children to a trade school where they will learn a worth while trade and let these WOKE garbage collages go down the gutter.
DEI in any scholastic, political or business is truly appalling; racism being shoved in our faces while participants from the gov’r, his cabinet through the state house down to local cities & towns misappropriating our taxes and fees for their dog dirt chamber of commerce & self interest promotion
*We need to pressure the RINO “seat “warmers” in our legislature to honor their oath of office
*Citizens must demand a “closed primaries” referendum
*For every electoral position (judges
especially) candidates must declare their political preferences on all campaign parafanala, frankly I do not care how the practice of judges and administration candidates not declaring came about. Not declaring political affliatons is the same as hidden donor pacs under the table financing.
I do not expect a response, (bc they nvr do) I will start writing emails and letters this weekend, guess U can tell I’ve truly had enough of the eunuchs in our (not theirs) state house and just as annoying the bipeds in county positions
I’d like to see Bill Carr succeed as county mayor, rather hv him as Governor tho.
He has put up wth so much dirt and backstabbing from the Tn Republican party, just bc he is a conservative and oppressive progressive party members only want what they get for themselves
Okay now, push and heave those posers by sending an onslaught of righteous indignation.
Also I think it’s time to subscribe to one those background providers bc in Tn we only hv mediocre political coverage
Thank You, Thank You very much!