Ole Miss grants up to $2k in extra funding for student groups that push DEI
The extra funding for DEI comes from the Student Advisory Board fees that all students pay via tuition.
Student organizations at the school can be granted the additional funds for sponsoring events and programming that 'foster diversity on campus and in their own organization.'
The flagship university in Mississippi is enticing student groups to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) by offering additional funding for holding pro-DEI events.
The University of Mississippi’sAssociated Student Body (ASB) will award as much as an extra $2,000 per semester for those student groups that offer “events, workshops, conferences, programming, or engaging opportunities that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion within the student organization or on the University of Mississippi campus as a whole.”
[RELATED: Up to $4K given away for DEI projects in NY]
Registered student organizations have unlimited requests for funding, but if an organization reaches the internal cap of $6,000, it will be barred from additional support from the ASB. A student organization will only have the opportunity to be provided more funds if it opts to host DEI programming.
The funding is issued by the ASB through the Student Activities Fee (SAF). All university students contribute $10 to the SAF fund each year through their tuition payments.
The University of Mississippi SAF fund manual notes that the purpose of this extra funding for DEI causes is “to inspire Registered Student Organizations to foster diversity on campus and in their own organization.”
[RELATED: UNC offers up to $7k to faculty for DEI research]
Not everyone on campus is content with favoritism for DEI groups, however.
“I find it incredibly unjust for a university to persuade student organizations with $2000 to promote a leftist ideology that ignores merit and promotes reverse discrimination because it relies on race instead of character,” a student told Campus Reform.
“Organizations such as College Republicans, YAF [Young Americans for Freedom], and Turning Point USA which oppose the efforts to promote DEI are immediately put at a significant disadvantage and will face backlash and discrimination from other student organizations,” the student added.
The university’s Diversity and Community Engagement division considers Equity to be a core value, stating: “We are committed to identifying and removing barriers, improving fairness in systems and outcomes, and creating a more inclusive understanding of how opportunities for success and achievement can be made available to all people.”
Campus Reform has contacted the university and the ASB for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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