Editor’s Note: a guest post by Misti Cordell, Chair of the Louisiana Board of Regents

America gives everyone the same starting line; where you finish depends on you. That is the truth of our country, and it is the standard we’re fighting to restore in Louisiana’s colleges and universities.

For too long, higher-ed has been hijacked by bureaucrats and activists who care more about pushing extremist ideology than preparing young people for real life. They wasted taxpayer dollars, insulted our values, and left families wondering why college doesn’t deliver on its promise. Folks like Nathan Koenig are right to keep watch and call out the dangers of far leftist rot.

But let me be clear: the DEI nonsense is DONE. The Legislature killed it. The Regents stripped it out. Louisiana is not going back. If it shows up in old paperwork, that doesn’t change the reality – those bad ideas belong to the past, not our future.

Under Governor Jeff Landry’s leadership, Louisiana is sweeping woke out and putting common sense back in.

We are scrubbing away distractions and getting back to basics – education that leads to work, work that leads to paychecks, paychecks that keep families together in Louisiana. Our mission is simple: build a pipeline from kindergarten to career. No more useless degrees or lectures in identity politics; instead, real jobs and real opportunities right here at home. That focus applies to everyone as a quality education and credentials that results in employment are the very best equalizers.

Conservatives do not fight for ivory tower theories. We fight for working families. We fight for education that opens doors. We fight for training that leads to paychecks. That’s the Louisiana way, and I’ll never apologize for it.

I am the daughter of a tradesman and of a first-generation college graduate – a mom who did not start college until 38, but who finished with honors and became an RN. That story is not traditional, but it should be… because opportunity should have no age limit, and education should never be a closed door.

Under my watch, and with the continued support of Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed, the Radical Left will not dictate the future of our kids. We are taking education back. We are stripping out the junk. We are giving Louisiana students the tools to rise as far as their grit and effort will take them. That is America’s promise, and that is Louisiana’s fight.