Ole Miss students 'required' to complete 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' training
“This ensures that every student is able to start from a similar place," an email to students read.
Ole Miss required all students to complete an online diversity and inclusion course.
The University of Mississippi has introduced a new diversity and inclusion course requirement for students.
The main catalyst for Ole Miss implementing this course was an incident in which several students were photographed holding guns near a memorial for Emmett Till, resulting in an FBI investigation.
The online course, which is 45 minutes long, was due on April 1. The Daily Mississippian reports that it followed the same structure and method as alcohol and sexual assault online courses used at Ole Miss and schools across the country.
The course covers many facets of diversity and inclusion. There are quizzes, vocabulary terms, and personal surveys for the students to complete, and members of minority communities describe some of their ideas about diversity. Screenshots from the course obtained by the Young Americas Foundation show teachings on “whitesplaining”, privilege, illegal immigrants, and how to reply to comments deemed racist.
“This ensures that every student is able to start from a similar place, so when they are having deeper conversations on inclusion and mutual respect in their academic courses or their future careers, they will be able to respond with confidence and familiarity,” Shawnboda Mead, assistant vice chancellor for diversity announced in a university-wide email.
[Related: University rolls out required diversity training]
Ole Miss Students for Trump chapter member Gage West told Campus Reform that the course is a waste of time for many students.
“While racism has been and still is a problem here in Oxford, it’s costly and burdensome to mandate a class for an entire school. Furthermore, I’m not racist, my peers are not racist; why do we have to waste our time with this?” said West.”
”Students should have the freedom to not take this online course if we feel that we aren’t discriminatory,” he added.
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