Stanford University caves to backlash after enforcing Trump's Critical Race Theory ban
Stanford University issued a memo showing how they will comply with the Trump Administration's Executive order on higher education.
However, after university professors criticized the memo, stanford rescinded it.
Stanford University released a memo initially showcasing how it would follow President Donald Trump’s executive order banning federal contractors from administering racial sensitivity training, commonly referred to as Critical Race Theory.
The memo described a list of activities that, under the Executive Order, would not be permitted in diversity training, such as “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” and more.
One professor at the university, Michele Dauber, voiced her issues with the memo on Twitter and said that some of the banned activities described in it “are not part of Trump’s EO,” further stating that it gives people “a window into Stanford’s mindset that is very frightening.”
My favorite banned words are “Systemic racism exists at Stanford.”
I am not making this up. @Stanford policy now says that saying that there is systemic racism at Stanford is now “prohibited content.”
This is pretty fucked folks. https://t.co/I40ufiNHQ9 pic.twitter.com/oDuFzEaJhw— Michele Dauber (@mldauber) November 16, 2020
The examples, which are not part of Trump’s EO, go much further than Trump and give you a window into Stanford’s mindset that is very frightening.
— Michele Dauber (@mldauber) November 16, 2020
Dauber further stated that “as I have been saying concerning the way Stanford went beyond DeVos’s hideous Title IX rules, either the University agrees with these rules or it needs new legal advice.”
Stanford Literature Professor David Palumbo-Liu and founder of Stanford’s Campus Anti-Fascist Network said the university’s compliance with the president’s order amounted to “censorship.”
After experiencing significant backlash, the university was quick to then paint the whole situation as a mistake, saying that the memo was issued prematurely.
Persis Drell, the provost for Stanford University, sent a campus-wide email on Nov. 18, a copy of which Campus Reform has obtained, explaining that the checklist did not receive the “necessary review and approval,” and noted that it has “been removed.”
The provost then apologized for the publication of the checklist, noting that he still feels “deeply concerned” about Executive order 13950 “which threatens to have a chilling effect” on universities attempting to build diverse and inclusive programs.
Drell said that he is “hopeful that the order itself will be rescinded by a new administration.”
[RELATED: SURVEY: Americans support 1A rights, but don’t know what they are]
Stanford Republicans President Stephen Sills told Campus Reform that he was disappointed that the university rescinded the memo.
Sills and the College Republicans, however, were “not surprised given Stanford has always been a place where racist ideologies like critical race theory have thrived. In September, the office of religious life hosted a workshop on ‘Racial Terror.’ Moreover, in October Stanford hosted Ibram Kendi, a man who has made millions of dollars telling Americans that they are defined by nothing more than their skin color.”
Sills stated that it is “perfectly within the federal government’s power to withhold funding from universities which promulgate racist ideologies like critical race theory.”
“We hope that despite the withdrawal of the memo, that Stanford will abide by the letter of the law and do their part to renounce racist and un-American ideologies such as Critical Race Theory.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @ajmunguia23
