Cal Poly, a California University based in San Luis Obispo, believes it has a problem. It isn’t an issue regarding curriculum or funding however. Instead, the school is choosing to focus on demographics, namely reducing the number of white people on campus.
As part of a new “diversity and inclusion” effort, Cal Poly is working on increasing the number of racial minorities on campus to “more closely reflect the demographics of the state of California,” they say in a 30-page report released on May 2nd.
“In 2011, the campus was 63 percent Caucasian, in fall of 2017, it was less than 55 percent … but there is still much work to do.” – Cal Poly
In order to align the demographics of the school with the overall population of the state, the University would have to reduce the number of Caucasian students by another 15 percent as “recent polls hold [Caucasians] at 39.7 percent of the population,” notes the College Fix.
This coming fall, first year and transfer students will have to complete “pre-enrollment diversity training” and campus ambassadors will “require a diversity statement from candidates for all faculty and staff searches,” from a diversified search committee which will “set [an] expectation that search committees will be based on best practices regarding diversity,” says the report.
“Some of these initiatives are well known – such as the university creating an Office of University Diversity and Inclusion (OUDI) and hiring its first-ever vice president and chief officer for diversity and inclusion – and others less known, including the recruitment of senior-level administrators in the colleges and divisions to lead diversity and inclusions efforts.” – Cal Poly
The initiative will also include race-based scholarships and the discontinuation of Early Decision applications, which encourage students to “[think] through their college options carefully and have a clear preference for one institution” because they “disadvantage low-income students”.
Students are not the only demographic which are in the process of being artificially changed however, as the school has received $150,000 “for a cluster hire of up to 10 faculty positions that focus on diversity and inclusion in a variety of scholarly areas throughout the university’s six colleges.”
The plan is not without criticism however, as many argue that policies which seek to change demographics instead of fostering the skills of their students are in effect lowering the educational standards in society.
“There’s nothing logical about assuming race equates to success. It goes against everyone’s best interest to be so obsessed over something as benign as race, something so banal and irrelevant, rather than encouraging and nurturing the best skilled; the best prepared and the best suited regardless of race.” – Batson Belfrey, Commenter
Others argue that attempting to control the opportunities of students based on a particular race or ethnicity is also effectively racist. In other words, discrimination is discrimination, not matter who it’s for or against.
“If they actually followed their “logic” all the way through, they would be making sure that exactly the right percentage of EVERY RACE was represented at Cal Poly. They said that they want the number of white students to sit at where they are demographically in California as a whole. Although, will they do the exact same thing for the other races? Nope. Why? Because it’s more anti-white than pro-minority group.” – RationalJerome, Commenter
Interestingly, the most recent study on college political demographics shows that professors with liberal leanings outnumber conservatives by eleven-and-a-half to one. As colleges are beginning to offer courses such as the “Abolition of Whiteness“, it is unclear how far universities are willing to go with their “diversity and inclusion” programs.
Phillip Schneider is a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times. If you would like to see more of his work, you can visit his Website, like his Facebook Page, or follow him on the free speech social network Minds.
This article (California University Releases Controversial Plan to Reduce Number of Caucasian Students and Faculty) was originally published by Phillip Schneider and may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author credit, and this copyright statement.