The president of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota recently accused the Biden administration of requiring the university to include references to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in a grant application, but evidence also shows that DEI at the school predates the grant.
“Under the Biden administration grant applicants were required to explain how use of the funds could advance diversity in the teaching profession,” St. Thomas President Rob Vischer told the media after the school’s $6.8 million DEI grant was canceled by President Trump’s Department of Education, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon.
Despite Vischer’s protestations, however, DEI at the school was around before the university even applied for the grant.
The Free Beacon has reported that, while the grant was approved in 2022, St. Thomas has had a DEI requirement for faculty since 2021, in which they are expected to “uphold” the “university’s commitment to diversity and sustainability.”
The Free Beacon also reports that the school previously featured a 2021 article on a “BIPOC Gathering Circle,” which is “a space where people share an identity or an experience of being racially privileged or racially marginalized.”
The grant, which was canceled by the Trump administration’s Education Department had been used in part for a “cultural assessment test” that breached subjects such as “white privilege.”
The University of St. Thomas has a dedicated DEI web page and a program called Student Diversity and Inclusion Services, which “provides opportunities for students to embrace differences and contribute to building an inclusive and welcoming community.”
The web page also contains a section which states the school is “Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” stating that the Catholic university welcomes “All Faiths” and the “LGBTQIA+ Community,” and provides a link to a page entitled “Undocumented Students Resources.”
“Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is rooted in our Catholic identity at St. Thomas,” the website reads.
The LGBT page says that the university is committed to supporting LGBT-identifying students and that, while students generally have to live in the housing available to their “legal sex,” exceptions may apply for transgender-identifying individuals.
“Housing and community bathroom assignments generally use the legal sex indicated in your application and/or University records,” the page states. “Exceptions may be available for students whose gender identity does not match their legal sex.”
The university also has a land acknowledgement on its website, which refers to the “sacredness” of the land of the Dakota people and commits to “wound healing” and “justice seeking.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of St. Thomas for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
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