Report highlights SEC universities' embrace of DEI

One of the nation’s top athletic conferences appears to be a strong proponent of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) ideology.

The Daily Wire has shared information from a report by Critical Race Training in Education that details how the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has embraced DEI principles.

[RELATED: Ohio State University poured $13 million into DEI officials’ salaries]

“Just because you are in a red state or a state that has taken action against DEI in higher ed, you’re also not immune from the ill effects of DEI,” Managing Editor Kemberlee Kaye told the outlet. “DEI has successfully permeated every single level of our culture.”

Critical Race Training in Education has reported that “the SEC itself has been infected by ‘racial equity’ and ‘social justice,’” as “SEC Universities and their Athletic Departments are riddled with DEI,” The Daily Wire reports.

The outlet points to a 2021 SEC policy that encourages universities to hire officials from “historically underrepresented groups” in their athletics departments.

”Under the new initiative, member institutions will employ intentional efforts to identify and consider candidates from historically underrepresented minority groups who may be outside the professional, social, and societal networks of those frequently making hiring decisions on behalf of the member institutions,” the conference wrote at the time. 

”The creation of this hiring principle is an outgrowth of the work of the SEC Council on Racial Equity and Social Justice, a league-wide body consisting of a diverse group of student-athletes, administrators and coaches tasked with identifying resources and outlining strategies aimed at ending racism and discrimination in intercollegiate athletics,” the SEC web page adds.

[RELATED: New report shows how much DEI ideology dominates Ivy League]

Critical Race Training in Education notes that the University of Georgia Athletic Association has an official DEI director, while the University of Arkansas requires athletics department employees to undergo courses on “microagressions.”

“During the 2023 Fiscal Year, the SEC brought in a combined $852.5 million of revenue,” the Critical Race Training in Education report says. “This money brings influence. The conference does not only influence its associated schools, it also has the power to flex its power over a much broader audience.”