Diversity, equity, and inclusion 'expert' appointed to National Board of Education Sciences

The White House recently announced that Professor Shaun Harper, a University of Southern California professor of business and education, would be appointed to the National Board for Education Sciences due to his expertise in “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Harper says that he accepted the position so that there was an opportunity to “fix longstanding inequities that chronically disadvantage particular schools and long-underserved student populations,” according to an interview with the USC Race & Equity Center.

[RELATED: CORDI: ‘Critical Race Theory’ is incompatible with freedom of speech or equal treatment]

The National Board for Education Sciences “consists of 15 voting members appointed by the President” and their “duties include advising the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences and serving as a ‘board of directors’” ensuring  that “the priorities of the Institute and the National Education Centers are consistent with the organization’s mission,” according to the White House website. 

Harper is active on Twitter, where he describes himself as a “DEI Expert.” He has written for a variety of news outlets.

On Nov. 3, he penned an op-ed for CNN titled “The culture wars have come to the classroom. Now what?”

In the piece, Harper defends the teaching of critical race theory in public K-12 schools, accusing conservatives of a “campaign of intentional misinformation and fear mongering” against CRT. He goes on to argue that “no credible evidence” exists that White students are anywhere being taught to feel guilty about their skin color.

“Until bans on truth teaching are lifted, our democracy will become increasingly susceptible to the exacerbation of the racial tensions, inequities, injustices and violent acts of racism that have always kept America from reaching its full potential,” Harper concludes.

On Oct. 31, Harper complained on Twitter about Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company, writing, “It’s been less than a week since @ElonMusk took over. Already alarming spikes in hate speech on Twitter,” and offering “suggestions” for improving the platform in an associated Forbes article.

[RELATED: ‘Critical Race Theory’ course taught at University of Iowa one year after governor’s ban]

Campus Reform has previously reported on the Biden Administration’s efforts to push CRT, DEI, and related leftist ideology on the American education system.

In 2021, for example, Campus Reform reported that the Department of Education was “prioritizing grant projects that use Critical Race Theory in a competition for federal funding that is supposed to center on American history and civics.”

The Biden Administration has also been engaged in an ongoing effort to expand Title IX protections beyond biological sex to include “gender identity,” Campus Reform has reported.

Campus Reform reached out to Professor Harper, the media relations team at USC, and the National Board for Education Sciences for a comment and will update accordingly.