(New York Post) The 64-campus SUNY college system is turning into the Woke University of New York — ordering incoming freshman at all of its colleges they will have to pass a new “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice”-themed class to earn a diploma.
The new college racial equity courses must, according to State University of New York documents:
- Describe the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class and gender.
- Analyze the role that complex networks of social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression and opportunity.
- Apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to past, current, or future social justice action.
While the primary focus is on equity and social justice in the US, courses can also look at what has happened or is currently happening in other countries for comparison, the mandate reads.
Critics say such mandated “equity” training actually flies in the face of goals for racial “equality.”
SUNY Suffolk Community College political science professor Nicholas Giordano slams the university’s new racial equity curriculum as divisive.Courtesy of Nicholas Giordano
“This is nuts,” Nicholas Giordano, a political science professor at SUNY’s Suffolk Community College told The Post. “SUNY is one of the best university systems in the country. Why are they doing this?!”
DEISJ is a cultural movement, not based on academics. Unfortunately, SUNY responded to the mob.”
Giordano, a fellow at the conservative watchdog group Campus Reform, said the new DEISJ coursework seeks to portray the US as “inherently racist” and tries to undermine the American identity that unifies all citizens by “creating groups and pitting them against each other.”
He said the curriculum seeks to have students “defined by the color of their skin.”
“To tell [minority students] they can’t compete with a white person is insulting and racist.”
Incoming students at Fashion Institute of Technology will be required to take a new diversity and racial equity course to graduate, beginning in the fall.
State Conservative Party chairman Jerry Kassar said the new SUNY curriculum is reminiscent of the debate raging over whether “critical race theory” should be taught in the lower grades.
“This is a woke, left wing agenda. It’s disturbing. It’s dangerous,” Kassar said.
“They’re treating everybody as having prejudice. It’s like a socialist, communist state. It’s unbelievable. These ideas are best addressed at home.”
Several other campuses across the country — Drake University, Brandeis University, Villanova University and the University of California system among them — have imposed similar racial equity programs.
Incoming freshmen at SUNY campuses will be required to pass a certified DEISJ course to graduate.
The diversity and equity curriculum was approved by SUNY under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s then hand-picked chancellor James Malatras, a former aide.AP
SUNY’s Board of Trustees approved the sweeping 25-point “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Act” plan aimed at closing “racial equity gaps” in February of 2021 — while New York was grappling with the once in a century coronavirus pandemic. It was crafted under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his hand-picked chancellor, James Malatras.
The press release then said the new policy called on campuses to “Embed Racial Equity into Curriculum and Toward Racial Equity.” The plan also includes updating the criminal justice curriculum.
SUNY Chancellor John King defended the public university’s new “Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Social Justice” curriculum as necessary in a modern society.AP
