“Some of the poorest counties in our state are in the Appalachian region, a region that is disproportionately white, and suffers from a host of socioeconomic problems at higher rates than the country at large. I wonder how many poor children have come to Ohio State as I did—first in their family to go to college and wonderstruck by the campus’s beauty and infinite possibilities—only to learn that they are ‘privileged’ because of the color of their skin.”
WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator JD Vance (R-OH) sent a letter to Walter Carter Jr., incoming president of The Ohio State University, requesting answers on whether university faculty are permitted to discriminate against job applicants on the basis of viewpoint, and whether undergraduate courses will be permitted to “inculcate race- and identity-based stereotypes.”
Last month, The Wall Street Journal uncovered a number of concerning practices at the University, including that “diversity” considerations, such as race, ethnicity, and sex, and applicants’ views on diversity as a social and political matter, were central to faculty hiring decisions across the College of Arts and Sciences, with one hiring committee admitting that “diversity and inclusion featured prominently in all [its] discussions” about applicants and that “naturally, most weight was given to candidates from [underrepresented minorities].”
More recently, a report from Fox News found “a health sciences program offered at The Ohio State University requires those who sign up for the course to take part in an array of discussions and assignments about gender and race, including one that asks students to address their privileges if they are white, heterosexual or able-bodied.”
“I want Ohio State to be successful,” writes Senator Vance, “but I believe that success depends on serving all citizens of our state rather than parroting the latest madness to come out of Harvard and Yale.”
The letter reads, in part:
“I write to express frustration with the culture at my alma mater, The Ohio State University, and to understand how that culture might change once you become its president. In particular, I am concerned by recent news reports that considerations related to ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ have been infused into the university’s hiring practices and curricula.
“My concerns began late last month when researcher John Sailer of the National Association of Scholars published his analysis of the university’s public records in a major newspaper. Sailer discovered that so-called ‘diversity’ considerations—including both applicants’ immutable characteristics, like race, ethnicity, and sex, and applicants’ views on diversity as a social and political matter—were central to faculty hiring decisions across the College of Arts and Sciences. One hiring committee at the university even admitted that ‘[d]iversity and inclusion featured prominently in all [its] discussions’ about applicants and that, ‘[n]aturally, most weight was given to candidates from URM’—i.e., ‘underrepresented’ minorities.
“However, I recently learned that the problem here may go well beyond hiring practices. Once again, a public records request has revealed that a core function of the university—this time, teaching—has been compromised in the name of DEI dogma. It turns out that earlier this semester, Ohio State undergraduates were being asked to ‘Unpack the Invisible Knapsack’ of privilege, including ‘white Privilege,’ ‘Heterosexual Privilege,’ and ‘Able-Bodied Privilege.’ One of the materials given to students in the course at issue encouraged white students to confess that ‘[w]hiteness . . . subtly trained [them] to visit’ ‘hostility, distress, and violence . . . upon people of color.’ In other words, students in this course were being taught to traffic in various race- and identity-based stereotypes, including the stereotype that white people are inherently wicked and oppressive.
“It seems that the rot of ‘DEI’—a modern gloss on racism, antisemitism, and other ancient prejudices—is pervasive at Ohio State. Your presidency is the kind of change in leadership that I hope will occasion a serious review of these ideas, their legality, and their role on campus. I’d like to know whether and how you plan to right the ship. And I am most interested in your response to the following questions:
Will you allow faculty to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint during your tenure as Ohio State’s president? For example, would you allow a faculty hiring committee to reject a scholar’s application because the scholar had previously criticized the Black Lives Matter movement?
Will you permit undergraduate courses to inculcate race- and identity-based stereotypes, including the stereotype that white people are inherently privileged? If not, will you terminate members of the faculty who attempt to present racial stereotypes as fact?
“On a personal note, I don’t relish sending this letter. I am alumnus of The Ohio State University, and I’m extremely proud of the university. Some of the fondest memories of my life were made there.
“I fear much has changed. Some of the poorest counties in our state are in the Appalachian region, a region that is disproportionately white, and suffers from a host of socioeconomic problems at higher rates than the country at large. I wonder how many poor children have come to Ohio State as I did—first in their family to go to college and wonderstruck by the campus’s beauty and infinite possibilities—only to learn that they are ‘privileged’ because of the color of their skin.”
Read the full letter here and below.
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