Image Credit: Vanderbilt University / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
According to Vanderbilt University’s official student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler, the university has hired a law firm to conduct an independent review of a video that allegedly shows university employees talking about the preservation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs by renaming them.
Baker Donelson Law Firm will investigate the footage that was recorded secretly by an outside entity, and per university protocol, the staff who are involved have been removed from their regular duties while the investigation takes place.
In addition to clarifying the specific details of what transpired in the video, at the conclusion of their review, Baker Donelson will give a list of recommendations to Vanderbilt regarding steps the university can take to make sure that all staff not only understands but adheres to university policy.
Earlier this year, Vanderbilt removed all references to DEI from their academic department and center websites after President Donald Trump’s administration released federal guidelines.
Vanderbilt affiliates were informed via email of new requirements that would bring them into compliance with Trump’s January 20th Executive Order aimed at ending “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.” The university is mandated to comply with the guidelines as it contracts with a number of government entities.
Phrases that are not longer allowed include: DEI, DEIA, health equity, health disparity, health inequity, social drivers of health, social determinants of health, social justice, racial justice/equity, equal access to health care, unconscious bias, microaggression, climate change, and environmental justice.
Around the same time, the Student Center for Social Justice and Identity was changed to the Student Center for Belonging and Communities.
Following the university’s actions to be in compliance with the guidelines, an investigation of 45 universities, including Vanderbilt, was announced by the Trump administration for “civil rights obligations to end the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Belmont University are also under investigation despite stating that they have abided by federal law.
In April, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent a letter to Vanderbilt’s President Jeffrey Balser regarding allegations that the university was concealing its DEI programs rather than fully complying with the law.
In her letter, Blackburn stated that some offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs were “seemingly still active.”
Blackburn also pointed out that the university’s track record on “embracing harmful woke initiatives is grim” while referencing Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s sex-change surgeries performed on minors in the past.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Rest assured they’ll get the results they want from their lawyer employees.
So employees discuss that it continues even though it hasn’t ended, so they put employees on leave and lawyer starts investigating those employees? Just like Liberal VUMC.