By Bryanna Lewis, Oregon State University ’25
Have you looked out your window lately? There’s a huge storm over here right now over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The words have been essentially banned in Texas, Florida, and Idaho. Thousands of documents obtained by hardworking NYT journalists expose a network of activists with plans to “strike a killing blow against the leftist social justice revolution by eliminating social justice education from American schools.”
It all started in 2021, when the right-wing academic think tank Claremont Institute formed a loose network of think tanks, political groups and Republican operatives in at least 12 states, funded by extreme right-wing donors, according to NYT. Then, they coached GOP candidates and elected officials on language that would be used in their destructive policies and efforts to eliminate DEI from the American education system.
Exposing a Primary Source of Anti-DEI Thinking and Their Enraging Beliefs
A Claremont Institute fellow and the face of the anti-DEI program, Dr. Scott Yenor, is also a conservative professor in the state of Idaho. His location may not come as a surprise with the recent signing of a law banning the use of diversity statements in government institutions in the state. Yenor, in a speech at Boise State University, argued that feminism made women “more medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome than women need to be.” Despite public backlash, Boise State defended Yenor, stating that faculty should be able to introduce what they called “uncomfortable and even offensive ideas.”
Publicly, Yenor and other activists claimed to be protecting diversity and academic freedom, asserting DEI divided Americans and created a less-than-welcoming environment for Black and Hispanic students. However, in a 2021 email, Yenor writes “The core of what we oppose is ‘anti-discrimination’. That is too much of a sacred cow.”
Another statement revealed their belief that “a healthy society requires patriarchy.” In other words, females should be stripped of their rights and ability to have an opinion. Other disturbing private conversations with Yenor and activists included support of laws making it a crime to be LGBTQ+ and mocking the prominent conservative donor Peter Thiel for his same-sex relationships.
Claremont Proudly Fights DEI in Order to ‘Save America’
In a statement given by the Claremont Institute for the NYT article, they boast about their accomplishments and goals, stating they were “proud to be a leader in the fight against DEI, since the ideology from which it flows conflicts with America’s Founding principles, constitutional government and equality under the law. Those are the things we believe in. Without them there is no America. You cannot have those things with DEI.” They also added, “Repeatedly, and in public, we make these arguments to preserve justice, competence and the progress of science.”
Extremist Funders of the Anti-DEI Movement
By the spring of 2021, Claremont officials began circulating urgent grant proposals to extremist right-wing donors. In the proposals, Claremont set a first round of targets in states including Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
What was needed was a frontal attack on public university systems in states where conservatives had legislative majorities. In an August 2021 draft proposal to the Taube Family Foundation, Claremont pledged “Our project will give legislators the knowledge and tools they need to stop funding the suicide of their own country and civilization.” According to another document, the Claremont organizers’ goal was to have state lawmakers nationwide pass sweeping bans on social justice education programs.
The Movement Grows…
Since 2021, the Claremont network has reached at least 12 states and took credit for helping pass the most wide-ranging bans in Florida and Texas.
In Tennessee, Claremont helped produce one of the documents reportedly circulated among Republican state lawmakers as they worked to pass a bill limiting how universities could teach or train students about “divisive concepts.” Tennessee’s governor signed the new law in April 2022.
In Arkansas, Claremont established a relationship with the Senate’s Republican leader, and last year Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an executive order banning “indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.”
In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers passed a law barring public universities and other agencies from requiring employees to state their opinions on social issues. Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, issued a similar executive order in December.
There are currently 30 bills nationwide attempting to eradicate DEI from state-funded institutions.
Republicans Find New Angles to Expand Their Efforts
With the next Presidential election nearing, Republicans sought to turn a Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism into an attack on elite universities, some arguing that diversity programs are the root cause of the antisemitic rhetoric. They’re taking it to the next level by investigating Harvard and other schools, with the inquiry’s scope expected to expand.
NY Rep. Elise Stefanik vows, “This is just the beginning. Our robust congressional investigation will continue to move forward to expose the rot in our most ‘prestigious’ higher-education institutions and deliver accountability to the American people.”
What Does All of This Mean for You?
While the violent, extremist language and rationale used by the anti-DEI movement may come as a shock to many readers, I wasn’t surprised because I’ve been watching its disturbing growth for a long time. But what did shock me was how organized and well-funded the movement is, so that it has created a devastating blow to DEI across the country.
Hopefully this article will awaken the public to the existential dangers posed by this movement. There are positive steps you can take, including contacting your state and federal elected officials, writing a letter to the editor and voting.