EXCLUSIVE: Newly mandated UCLA diversity training tells students not to say 'lame,' 'insane'
UCLA told all students the training was required, but did not have an asnwer as to what consequences would be for not completing the module.
A campus-wide training module was sent out to share “key definitions and ideas."
The University of California-Los Angeles has implemented “required” diversity training for students, teaching them about the dangers of using such words as “lame.”
UCLA recently sent out an email to all students, inviting them to complete an “educative training module”, one already required by first year freshmen and new transfer students.
A later email indicated the training was mandatory, but the office later used the phrase “strongly recommended” when asked about consequences for not completing the training.
“This module,” the email from Maria Q. Blandizzi, the Dean for Students, read, “created by EverFi and advocated for by the Afrikan Student Union (ASU) with support from the Mother Organization Coalition, is designed to be a brief introduction to a lifetime of learning about, engaging with, and respectfully discussing identities.”
[Related: University rolls out required diversity training]
The module, broken up into several sections, begins with a survey asking students for, among other things, their race, pronouns, gender, and self-identity.
The module then introduced a quiz/learning section, in which participants were asked their views on various social justice topics, then informed whether their answers were correct or not.
The module then shifts to an “education” portion, in which students were instructed to think about how to make their own circle of friends, and to avoid using words like “lame” or “insane” because saying them “increases stigma against marginalized groups.”
The module is nearly identical to one used by George Washington University, as reported by Campus Reform earlier.
When the module was completed, students were offered a certificate but no confirmation from official university sources they actually completed the training.
UCLA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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