No 'groupthink': Tufts prof comes out against NIH diversity grants
Tufts University professor Larry Engelking endorsed Heather Mac Donald’s op-ed opposing the National Institutes of Health’s new diversity grants.
He wrote that the 'appropriate acquisition of truth in basic biomedical-science research' should not 'bend to politics or groupthink.'
A Tufts University professor endorsed Heather Mac Donald’s op-ed denouncing the National Institutes of Health’s diversity grants.
Heather Mac Donald, a conservative scholar and Manhattan Institute fellow, noted in The Wall Street Journal that “neurologists, molecular biologists and nanophysicists seeking NIH funding must now submit a plan showing how they will ‘enhance diverse perspectives’ throughout their research,” a requirement based on the idea that there exists “structural racism” in the biomedical science field.
“Science has one purpose: to advance knowledge about the fundamental workings of nature. Any agenda that imposes extraneous criteria will reduce the quality of the talent pool and divert attention away from the generation of new knowledge,” Mac Donald wrote.
[RELATED: NIH releases plan to ‘prioritize’ minority grant applicants]
Multiple academics commented on the article to The Wall Street Journal, including Tufts University professor Larry Engelking, who lauded Mac Donald’s argument.
“Ms. Mac Donald’s article is timely, appropriate and informational,” wrote the veterinary medicine professor. “There is not, nor should there be any, ‘discriminatory intent’ in selecting NIH biomedical-science grant recipients. Skin color, ethnicity and gender have nothing to do with the planning and conduct of such meritorious advanced research.”
[RELATED: Citing systemic racism, Princeton scraps Latin and Greek requirements for Classics majors]
Engelking added that biomedical research labs are already incredibly diverse, with scientists from across the world unifying in pursuit of knowledge.
“The appropriate acquisition of truth in basic biomedical-science research is difficult and time-consuming. It should not bend to politics or groupthink,” he commented.
Engelking is not the only professor at a leading university to break from left-leaning narratives on race and diversity. Earlier this year, Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury shredded racial activists for “bluffing” as they fail to address Black-on-Black crime.
”People don’t want to talk about the Black family,” Loury said on his podcast. “It’s an absolute catastrophe that two-thirds to three-quarters of Black kids are being raised in a home without a father present in the home, in terms of the social cohesion of the community. People don’t want to say that.”
Campus Reform reached out to Engelking for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
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