New York college diversity director admits to using Critical Race Theory on campus
Kenya Hobbs said that CRT sounds like what his college 'has been engaged in through various avenues throughout this past academic year.'
The college official opposes bans on CRT and is on the record touting the '1619 Project.'
Medaille College Director of Diversity & Inclusion Kenya Hobbs wrote an article in June challenging “controversial laws” that seek to ban CRT in education, defending its utility on campus.
“CRT sounds, to me, like the work the Medaille community has been engaged in through various avenues throughout this past academic year,” Hobbs said in the article. His statement comes as a wave of bills banning CRT enter dozens of state legislators across the nation.
At Medaille, efforts have included faculty discussions of White Fragility.
Back in November, Hobbs also criticized Trump’s executive order on “Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” for its limits on discussing topics like white privilege and white guilt.
“If we are to learn anything from this country’s past failures and missteps, and work together to find ways to truly live out the principles upon which this country was founded, we must discuss certain matters in workshops and training,” he wrote in a November post.
In the same post, he noted that the 1619 project—which as Campus Reform reported has been consistently debunked—can “help correct the vision of Americans.”
[RELATED: New Hampshire universities defend their ability to teach Critical Race Theory]
Other universities have also pushed back against attempts to ban Critical Race Theory. Campus Reform recently reported on a letter signed by leading New Hampshire universities warning about House Bill 544, which “prohibits the dissemination of certain divisive concepts related to sex and race.”
[RELATED: Critical Race Theory 101 with Angela Morabito]
Currently, lawmakers in New York are not considering a similar ban. But Hobbs still wants students to avoid becoming “misinformed” by the controversies.
“To avoid making the same mistakes that led to inequities in the past, we must be able to do the work and show our work. That means talking about Critical Race Theory, continuously engaging in uncomfortable conversations, and doing the work,” Hobbs writes.
Campus Reform reached out to Kenya Hobbs and Medaille College for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
