If you think “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) is a thing of the past, you would be sorely mistaken.  The only thing that changes is the target audience and the perceived threats.  Nothing makes this point more clearly than the following headline in the latest edition of the on-line University of Virginia newsletter “UVAToday.”  UVA Shares Report From External Review of Nov. 13 Shooting.  The report was in response to the shooting deaths of three UVA football players and wounding of two others on a bus that had just returned from a field trip to Washington, D.C.

The report contains several recommendations designed to ameliorate the possibility of similar future incidents, many of which were implemented prior to the report’s weekend release.  They include:

• Expanded Threat Assessment Team Resources to include two full-time, licensed psychologists to serve as the associate and assistant directors of the Office of Threat Assessment; two response specialists; Housing & Residence Life representation; and a Victim Advocate/Threat Assessment Team liaison from the University Police Department.
• Established an Office of Threat Assessment to more effectively lead the Violence Prevention Committee and execute the case-management recommendations of the Threat Assessment Team.
• Enhanced Threat Assessment Team operating procedures and training opportunities, including the immediate investigation by the University Police Division if a firearm is reported to be on Grounds or in the possession of an individual who lives on Grounds.
• Increased training and staff awareness on entering a dorm room to inspect for health and safety-related concerns.
• Approved a permanent Emergency Operations Center to allow the University to activate the center without delay in response to emergency events.
• Reorganized Student Affairs support resources – now known as the Care and Support Services, and Policy, Accountability and Critical Events units – to better discuss, review, triage and respond to student concerns and any necessary disciplinary actions.

Additional psychologists.  Response specialists. Victim advocates. Enhanced assessment.  Training and staff awareness.  Immediate response.  Care and support services to deal with student concerns.  Sound familiar?  These are some of the exact same services that used to be provided by university DEI programs for minority students which are now being shut down due to threats of extortion by the Trump administration.  I know.  You might argue that UVA’s enhanced efforts are focused on the threats to student safety resulting from physical violence.  Need I remind you of the lessons we learned from soldiers returning from Vietnam or first responders on 9/11.  All scars are not visible.

Or how about the new DEI program at Columbia University.  At the same time DEI efforts in support of minority students are being dismantled, the Columbia website touts efforts to address antisemitism.  Under the heading “Columbia Resources,” the university lists academic programs such as the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, the Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism, General Mental Health Support, Reporting Bias and Student Life Programming.

Do not get me wrong.  Gun violence and antisemitism are serious problems that deserve our attention.  But why are DEI-type activities okay when it involves threats to certain populations and not for others?  Is it the Don Ohlmeyer doctrine?  “The answer to all your questions is MONEY!”  Would Columbia University still have DEI programs for Black, Hispanic and Arab students if their parents were the major donors for whom buildings and schools are named?

Did some DEI programs have excesses that blurred the lines between support and overreach?  Probably.  However, the current situation strikes me as worse than the Elon Musk “DC Chainsaw Massacre.”  Instead of simply eliminating  USAID, it is akin to replacing it with USAIW, (U.S. Agency for the Independently Wealthy).  Oh, wait!  Isn’t that exactly what the combination of DOGE and the Trump cuts are going to do?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP