The Universities continue to conflate the root causes of the lack of “diversity”, now increasingly coupled with the lack of meritocracy, within our ranks.
The generation that follows us (I am 64 with kids in their thirties) is very open about the root causes.
They openly recognize and belittle what is recognized to be an institution specific culture that maintains local cultural identity while forsaking any effort at fulfilling institutional or National missions.
The selections of trainees and faculty ranging from resident and fellows to the recruitment of junior faculty and their retention into senior faculty creates a homogeneous, culturally and ethnically aligned environment where those of us who recognize and call out the hypocrisy of “DEI” ( a shibboleth with no intrinsic meaning) are culled from the herd.
What is needed is integrity to the missions of higher Ed, and brave voices of “children” and those others who still care about maintaining the sanctity of professions, to speak out and revolt against the gaslighting leaders of academia.
Perhaps for amusement, or a bit more. Here are the authors of a paper I'm currently working on: Sadia Farzana, Ali Moghtaderi, Ye (Andy) Yuan, Qian (Eric) Luo, Vinay Kini, and Bernard Black. One lone white guy (me), albeit a member os ubgroup that some consider privileged (Jews). I don't give a d*** about diversity and such. But if you aim for merit, you might get diversity too. Then too, if you try to hire good people to run government agencies, you might get people named Prasad or Bhattacharya. Or a gay guy runnig Treasury (Bessent). Who could have guessed.
A lot of smart people were talking like this in the early 90s, in the first heyday of PC and after the first major attacks on canon in humanities and social sciences. We can achieve diversity and retain merit. So they thought. Didnt turn out to be a stable position.
I hadn't put it together that the whole point of hiring incompetent DEI leadership is so that the position's power can be redistributed down to those who envy it but are not good enough to get the job.
We are not on this substack to evaluate Vinays grammar. Atleast I am not. I come for the snark and the views and observations that he candidly opines on.
The Progressive Institutions stopped calling others "racist" because they have been scientifically exposed as being racist. SPLC was actually funding fringe groups to be more racist to bilk their contributors for more funds to fight racism. Progressive government officials (correlated with Democrat Party) enact policies and laws that are racist only for the Supreme Court to strike them down. DOJ should sue to claw back the federal funds; otherwise, racist groups like USCF will continue to defraud the government and violate the law. What ever happened to Equal Opportunity as a cornerstone of American culture?
Then there is the problem that minority hires must be of a far left leaning political bent. Shelby Steele writes: “Not long ago I heard a white female professional at a racially mixed dinner table call Clarence Thomas an incompetent beneficiary of affirmative action—the same woman whom I had heard on another occasion sneer at the idea that affirmative action stigmatized women and minorities as incompetent. Feminists who happily vote for Bill Clinton are free to loathe Clarence Thomas. In a sense Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Ward Connerly, Stanley Crouch, myself, and many, many others represent a new class of “unprotected” blacks. By my lights there is something a little avant-garde in this. But, as with any avant-garde, the greater freedom is paid for in a greater exposure to contempt and shame.” Hiring a right leaning black person is hiring an “Uncle Tom.” For example Cambridge wouldn’t hire MP Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British conservative party or someone like her because of her views on racial equality: https://youtu.be\
NHDUjoFHl9s. So one not only has to be of a certain race or gender, but they also have to have the right political views to “count.“
DEI is having a real world effect on the reputations of universities. As an example I have hired spectacular candidates from Harvard and some that were “not so much.” I no longer trust their brand.
Something I would like to mention so that it sinks in.
Srinivasa Ramanujan, a first-order genius who truly came from nothing, was never professor at Cambridge. Was a young Fellow of Royal College, but never professor.
There are a number of errors in this post. Basic spelling/word choice. Example, "with next to know consideration of diversity as an end in itself" DEI is a wrecking ball for our culture. Merit is meritorious and desirable, but it is also overused by the really capable as a cudgel to keep others away. Check this error, "It is no longer investigating how a serial plagiarist/ fabulist become the youngest ever". If you are so smart, give it a good check. Don't be in such a hurry. You are absolutely write on your criticism here, but be careful in casting stones. And the fact that we now live in an economic system where fabulous wealth is given to tech startups, and has been for decades now, is not such a great marker for long term durability of a system. Wait til Mandami really arrives in Santa Clara and environs. "A pediatrician has always paid less than an orthopod" Really, the pediatrician pays less, or is paid less. Which is it? These aren't AI word flow mistakes, it would seem to me. More like just plain old sloppy, in a hurry writing. Merit requires a bit of proof reading, I guess.
I think your prediction is entirely possible. However, I think that as a result of the backlash, people who bring it back will probably moderate the premise and ideas around it to some extent.
I like the MEI acronym. Yes, shame on UCSF for refusing to comply with the Supreme Court ruling on racial preferences. And there is another dimension to UCSF violation of federal standards. Either Governor Brown in 2018 or Governor Newsom in 2019 made CA a member of the private organization, Racial Equity Alliance, (+ 24 other states) and implemented DEI at state level for each department, agency, bureau, commission and committee. UC is a department within the State of California. That means that independent of UCSF intention, the DEI directors in Sacramento probably dictated that each UC campus ignore those federal laws, rulings and requirements that do not please DEI directors. I actually consider the DEI program of 100 cities and 25 states to be insurrection dictatorships against the federal gov. Otherwise, we might see more cooperation that reflects the public’s sentiment.
The Universities continue to conflate the root causes of the lack of “diversity”, now increasingly coupled with the lack of meritocracy, within our ranks.
The generation that follows us (I am 64 with kids in their thirties) is very open about the root causes.
They openly recognize and belittle what is recognized to be an institution specific culture that maintains local cultural identity while forsaking any effort at fulfilling institutional or National missions.
The selections of trainees and faculty ranging from resident and fellows to the recruitment of junior faculty and their retention into senior faculty creates a homogeneous, culturally and ethnically aligned environment where those of us who recognize and call out the hypocrisy of “DEI” ( a shibboleth with no intrinsic meaning) are culled from the herd.
What is needed is integrity to the missions of higher Ed, and brave voices of “children” and those others who still care about maintaining the sanctity of professions, to speak out and revolt against the gaslighting leaders of academia.
Perhaps for amusement, or a bit more. Here are the authors of a paper I'm currently working on: Sadia Farzana, Ali Moghtaderi, Ye (Andy) Yuan, Qian (Eric) Luo, Vinay Kini, and Bernard Black. One lone white guy (me), albeit a member os ubgroup that some consider privileged (Jews). I don't give a d*** about diversity and such. But if you aim for merit, you might get diversity too. Then too, if you try to hire good people to run government agencies, you might get people named Prasad or Bhattacharya. Or a gay guy runnig Treasury (Bessent). Who could have guessed.
A lot of smart people were talking like this in the early 90s, in the first heyday of PC and after the first major attacks on canon in humanities and social sciences. We can achieve diversity and retain merit. So they thought. Didnt turn out to be a stable position.
Your post kind of drives the point home professor Black!
Are you driving the carriage being pulled by the diverse horses?
I hadn't put it together that the whole point of hiring incompetent DEI leadership is so that the position's power can be redistributed down to those who envy it but are not good enough to get the job.
Much like the Biden Presidency...
We are not on this substack to evaluate Vinays grammar. Atleast I am not. I come for the snark and the views and observations that he candidly opines on.
No doubt the criticism comes from an English professor at Cambridge.
The Progressive Institutions stopped calling others "racist" because they have been scientifically exposed as being racist. SPLC was actually funding fringe groups to be more racist to bilk their contributors for more funds to fight racism. Progressive government officials (correlated with Democrat Party) enact policies and laws that are racist only for the Supreme Court to strike them down. DOJ should sue to claw back the federal funds; otherwise, racist groups like USCF will continue to defraud the government and violate the law. What ever happened to Equal Opportunity as a cornerstone of American culture?
Then there is the problem that minority hires must be of a far left leaning political bent. Shelby Steele writes: “Not long ago I heard a white female professional at a racially mixed dinner table call Clarence Thomas an incompetent beneficiary of affirmative action—the same woman whom I had heard on another occasion sneer at the idea that affirmative action stigmatized women and minorities as incompetent. Feminists who happily vote for Bill Clinton are free to loathe Clarence Thomas. In a sense Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Ward Connerly, Stanley Crouch, myself, and many, many others represent a new class of “unprotected” blacks. By my lights there is something a little avant-garde in this. But, as with any avant-garde, the greater freedom is paid for in a greater exposure to contempt and shame.” Hiring a right leaning black person is hiring an “Uncle Tom.” For example Cambridge wouldn’t hire MP Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British conservative party or someone like her because of her views on racial equality: https://youtu.be\
NHDUjoFHl9s. So one not only has to be of a certain race or gender, but they also have to have the right political views to “count.“
DEI is having a real world effect on the reputations of universities. As an example I have hired spectacular candidates from Harvard and some that were “not so much.” I no longer trust their brand.
Something I would like to mention so that it sinks in.
Srinivasa Ramanujan, a first-order genius who truly came from nothing, was never professor at Cambridge. Was a young Fellow of Royal College, but never professor.
But Jason Arday was.
Let that sink in.
Using prejudice in making a decision is never a good idea. Isn’t the road to h___ paved with good intentions?
There are a number of errors in this post. Basic spelling/word choice. Example, "with next to know consideration of diversity as an end in itself" DEI is a wrecking ball for our culture. Merit is meritorious and desirable, but it is also overused by the really capable as a cudgel to keep others away. Check this error, "It is no longer investigating how a serial plagiarist/ fabulist become the youngest ever". If you are so smart, give it a good check. Don't be in such a hurry. You are absolutely write on your criticism here, but be careful in casting stones. And the fact that we now live in an economic system where fabulous wealth is given to tech startups, and has been for decades now, is not such a great marker for long term durability of a system. Wait til Mandami really arrives in Santa Clara and environs. "A pediatrician has always paid less than an orthopod" Really, the pediatrician pays less, or is paid less. Which is it? These aren't AI word flow mistakes, it would seem to me. More like just plain old sloppy, in a hurry writing. Merit requires a bit of proof reading, I guess.
Absolutely "write"?
“You are absolutely write on your criticism…”
I think your prediction is entirely possible. However, I think that as a result of the backlash, people who bring it back will probably moderate the premise and ideas around it to some extent.
I like the MEI acronym. Yes, shame on UCSF for refusing to comply with the Supreme Court ruling on racial preferences. And there is another dimension to UCSF violation of federal standards. Either Governor Brown in 2018 or Governor Newsom in 2019 made CA a member of the private organization, Racial Equity Alliance, (+ 24 other states) and implemented DEI at state level for each department, agency, bureau, commission and committee. UC is a department within the State of California. That means that independent of UCSF intention, the DEI directors in Sacramento probably dictated that each UC campus ignore those federal laws, rulings and requirements that do not please DEI directors. I actually consider the DEI program of 100 cities and 25 states to be insurrection dictatorships against the federal gov. Otherwise, we might see more cooperation that reflects the public’s sentiment.
Core-wrecked