Biden-Harris management ties funding to hiring based on’ sex,’ ‘ race,’ ‘ color,’ ‘ physical orientation ‘
A former office standard and major Republican lawmaker are opposed to a regulation change that would tie billions of dollars in grant money to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The DEI order was just updated to the Education Department’s General Administrative Regulations, a set of guidelines that the office applies to awarding federal grants, by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The adjustments went into effect Sept. 30.
Today, the office will connect funding decisions to the individual’s dedication to hiring “personnel who are members of groups that have previously encountered barriers” due to their “gender, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, disability, age, language, migration, … physical orientation” and other factors.
In the rules release, the office stated that it is “interested in giving grants to a diverse and inclusive cluster of applicants.”
Angela Morabito, ( pictured ) a former press secretary for the department, opposes the changes.
In a recent phone interview, she stated to The College Fix that merit should be at the vanguard of national grantmaking standards because the colleges with the strongest requirements will also be “prepared to assist the students the best.”
” So when you’ve got the Biden-Harris Administration]and ] Secretary Cardona infusing this DEI ideology into how billions of dollars every year get distributed, that’s a problem because it means they may not be picking the best grant applicants for a particular grant award”, Morabito said.
She most recently published an article at the Independent Women’s Forum that provides more information about the modifications. Morabito serves as the Defense of Freedom Institute’s director and other community member.
Recently, grant applicants were eligible to receive governmental funding based on merit and other qualifications, according to her statement. Today, schools, colleges, and other organizations will be more likely to receive federal funding if they hire people and admit individuals who fall within certain demographic groups, according to the document.
According to Morabito, it is in Americans ‘ best interests that local and state governments administer grants rather than be solely based on federal authority.
According to Morabito,” It would mean more funding gets to the people it’s supposed to be serving and less of it gets absorbed by a gigantic bureaucracy,” and it would also mean that those who are most in charge of the work can choose the actions that will result in the best outcomes for the students.”
Republicans work on legislation to stop DEI regulations
U. S. Rep. Burgess Owens, ( pictured ) who serves on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, opposes the DEI ideology being pushed on higher education.
The Utah Republican confidently stated in a recent email to The College Fix that Congress will be able to override the change.
The first step will be to use the Congressional Review Act, he said. With the act, Congress can ask the Department of Education to send a full report of all of the changes that were made to the regulations, and, if lawmakers disapprove of the report, they can “enact a resolution of disapproval”, according to the U. S. Government Accountability Office.
Owens claimed that the Accreditation for College Excellence Act is a solution because it” will eliminate the DEI agenda from the accreditation process, as well as advocate for Senate action.”
” I believe that universities that are deeply divided will continue to discriminate against professors and students who disagree,” Owens told The Fix.” Those who oppose the DEI agenda will be put under increasing pressure to conform,” Owens said. This approach “distracts from the main goal of higher education: academic excellence,” and only deepens the divisions on campus.
This year, there have been disagreements between Republican leaders and Education Secretary Cardona regarding a number of changes to education.
Owens claimed that Cardona discussed the “revolutionary rewrite of Title IX” that would give men access to private spaces and allow them to compete in women’s sports earlier this year with the House Education Committee.
The congressman questioned whether the secretary will support colleges that oppose the new DEI standards for federal grant applications and claimed Cardona did not act “in good faith” during the meeting.
According to Owens,” Secretary Miguel Cardona is taking cues from a far-left agenda that treats people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character,” similar to President Biden and Vice President Harris. ” This has no place in America’s education system”.
Last week, The Fix received a request for comment from a department spokesperson who stated concern about the recent changes to the grant regulations. However, after following up with the department, The Fix received an automatic email saying the press secretary was out of the office.
Scholars group calls for end to ‘ destructive’ DEI ideology
Teresa Manning, policy director of the National Association of Scholars, said she also believes that DEI ideology needs to be stopped, particularly in relation to higher education and the government because it” creates a new tribalism of chaos.”
According to Manning,” Diversity ideology is a destructive ideology that pits Americans against one another on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity.” It sounds innocent and harmless, but it actually causes racial unrest by using neo-racism, which allows everyone to view other people and even topics through the perspective of skin color.
She claimed that because Democrats have used diversity ideology as a politicized tool to perpetuate discrimination and dissension, it threatens the security of the United States.
The ideology encourages the attacking of people who are perceived as” white privileged,” she told The Fix, and allows one race or group to become highly preferred.
” But America historically was the land of equal opportunity”, Manning said. The promise was that anyone with industry, intelligence, and integrity could advance their position in life through perseverance and talent, and that was the great equalizer. Equal opportunity for all individuals”.
Manning said the DEI movement has destroyed equal opportunity, especially within higher education.
” So this is a real regression and really a war on America”, she told The Fix.
She claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court has heard a number of cases involving DEI policies because they frequently conflict with the equal protection promise of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled that allowing students to choose their race violates the Constitution in Manning’s case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard as a prime example.
As for the solution, Manning said cases like these must be tried in court. She thinks that because of their anti-DE I legislation, Texas and Florida might be the first states to oppose the grant application changes.
MORE: Major higher education reform bill hits snag in Democrat-controlled Senate
IMAGE: Angela Morabito/Independent Women’s Forum, Burgess Owens/X
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