GURVICH: Journalism Faces The Abyss, But There Is Hope

We read with gratitude Quinn Hillyer’s article in the Commentary section of Sunday’s edition of The Times-Picayune. While Mr. Hillyer has sometimes been at odds with the LAGOP’s positions on certain issues, on this occasion he is absolutely correct and he deserves our thanks.

The article in question, “La. Republicans did not try to ‘forbid the study of racism,’ definitively rebuts a flurry of articles beginning with James Finn’s April 15th story in The Advocate, “Louisiana Republican Party wants to ban college study of diversity, equity, inclusion.” Right on cue, several copycat news stories followed in such left wing screeds as Yahoo News, The Advertiser, the Louisiana Illuminator, and LSU’s Reveille. Sad to relate, the young minds of aspiring journalists at our state’s flagship university continue to be corrupted by the dominating influence of progressive ideology over the journalistic imperative of objectivity.

And speaking of journalistic objectivity, we are pleased to provide herewith an exact copy of the resolution which generated this fake ruckus in the first place. Passed without dissent by the LAGOP’s governing body on Saturday, April 15th, the resolution is indeed deeply critical of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and bureaucracies at Louisiana’s institutions of higher learning, but you will not anywhere within it find a call to forbid the study of racism.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, in progressive parlance, long ago lost their commonly accepted definitions, and have been co-opted into the Neo-Marxist lexicon. If one believes, as conservatives most certainly do, that in current woke parlance “diversity” means people who look different but are required to think the same; “equity” means equal results attained through government oppression of higher achievers; “inclusion” means favoring certain groups that progressives like, then one is morally required to oppose DEI just as one would any other societal evil.

Therefore, to oppose the huge waste of time and resources which the teaching of DEI consumes on campuses (as well as all the other bits of the claptrap philosophy known as Neo-Marxism), is not the same thing as opposing the teaching of racism. Therein lies the logical fallacy into which most of the media, willingly or otherwise, has so abjectly fallen.

There is currently a debate going on among American reporters and within academic circles as to whether objectivity should even continue to be the standard by which journalism be judged. We frequently hear the phrase “beyond objectivity” as the purported new standard, as if this concept were not the greatest oxymoron of this increasingly Orwellian world in which we live. This on-going dispute no doubt explains why 83% of Americans in a 2020 Gallup poll thought there was bias in our political news coverage, and of the forty-six countries surveyed as to whether their news media could be trusted, America came in dead last.

Until such time as journalists return to the objective standard of their profession’s forebears, they will be held in increasing contempt, and rightly so. Until then, we can at least thank Mr. Hillyer for daring to set the record straight.

LOUIS GURVICH, Chairman
Republican Party of Louisiana

Here’s a copy of the resolution in question…

RESOLUTION

A resolution for the Removal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Louisiana’s Institutions of Higher Learning.

WHEREAS the Louisiana State University (LSU) and the University of Louisiana (UL) Systems each have established departments within their administrations focusing on what is known as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and where these systems matriculate over 130,000 students annually and employ tens of thousands of faculty and staff, and

WHEREAS in the Diversity Statement for LSU it states, “… must recognize and reflect on the inglorious aspects of our history …” and

WHEREAS in the UL System, each individual university has an office focused on DEI, and it is noted that the Board of Supervisors adopted the 2017 UL System’s Strategic Framework and 2018 Diversity Commitment, that helped accelerate the System’s work around (1) increasing diversity in the System’s talent and leadership pipeline; (2) investing in and partnering with organizations that are committed to equity; (3) expanding trainings and educational resources for the System; and (4) increasing access and success across all populations, as identified by Dr. Claire Norris, and

WHEREAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracies at public universities operate as divisive ideological commissariats, promulgating and enforcing Critical Race Theory and related political orthodoxies as official campus policy. Yet recent scientific surveys of universities in the Power Five athletic conferences demonstrate that students feel less welcome, not more welcome, at universities with larger DEI staffs.[1] and

WHEREAS Administrative DEI offices within universities are not covered by norms of academic freedom and are in fact a threat to academic freedom and academic integrity and Administrators in public institutions of higher education should maintain institutional neutrality on controversial political questions extraneous to the business of educating students, and contrary to this obligation, DEI advances primarily political aims rather than educational aims. Additionally, the growth of DEI bureaucracies has fueled bureaucratic bloat and rising costs in support of these bureaucracies, contributing to the indebtedness of students and parents(2), and

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WHEREAS there is much concern that rather than improving relationships among the populace of the standard university, DEI programs have arguably resulted in the growth of tribalism within the university with students pulling back into monolithic camps with a view of oppressor and oppressed, and

WHEREAS, many critics state that the DEI curriculum suggests that the “system is rigged” and there is no use in even trying.  DEI further teaches hopelessness to those who are not “privileged” as per the DEI beliefs, and

WHEREAS many students, faculty and staff are required to attend training and/or seminars related to DEI, and

WHEREAS the institutional purpose of these places of higher learning should be committed to the preparation of its students to help the citizenry of Louisiana where the State is dependent upon a highly qualified and well educated populace, and

WHEREAS more time and energy is now focused on biases and other politically involved activities at the expense of foundational and fundamental higher learning thereby impacting the knowledge and experience gained by the students at these universities with the potential consequence of less than optimal educated citizenry,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Louisiana, requests that the Louisiana State Legislature (House and Senate) pass bills that will call for the removal of DEI departments and/or agencies within any institution of higher learning within the State, and

Done and adopted, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this 15th Day of April 2023.

1 Jay Greene and James Paul, “Diversity University: DEI Bloat in the Academy,” Heritage Foundation, July 27, 2021.

2 Christopher Rumor and Ilya Shapiro, “Abolish DEI Bureaucracies and Restore Colorblind Equality in Public Universities”, Manhattan Institute, January 2023.

Potential sample legislation can be found in the article cited in footnote #2 above.

 

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