(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is pushing for decreased funding for DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, following the discovery that state-funded universities spent at least $83.4 million over the last 10 years on these initiatives.
According to data from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) said that the funds were used for expenditures for personnel and other parts of the program, but was also used to fund the legal expenses from several lawsuits related to DEI programs. Apparently, DEI programs have failed to function as intended, resulting in civil rights complaints and lawsuits claiming that these programs actually promote discrimination rather than prevent it.
According to Governor Stitt, universities need more career placement counselors rather than DEI officers.
“We expect our tuition to pay for their education, not their indoctrination,” Stitt said, adding that the state should – and will – work towards promoting equal opportunity rather than “equal outcomes.” The Oklahoma governor also said that the state intends to “take politics out of education” and instead better prepare students to enter the workforce.
The order also comes on the heels of news of a rise in antisemitic incidents on many college and university campuses.
Governor Stitt has ordered that state agencies, along with institutions of higher learning, conduct a thorough review of their DEI departments, positions, programs, initiatives and activities. Non-essential activities should be scrapped and non-critical personnel should be dismissed, according to the governor’s order.
The order also prohibits the same state agencies and educational institutions from granting preferential treatment based on a person’s race, sex, ethnicity, or national origin. Mandating any training or education that promotes preferential treatment based on the same criteria is also prohibited. Other prohibitions include requiring an individual to certify or swear to adhere to a specific political, ideological, or religious viewpoint; and mandating a person to disclose their personal pronouns.
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