ADRIAN, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The private Michigan Catholic college Siena Heights University in Adrian is ready to offer college students a certificate in Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI).
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Three JEDI courses are being offered by the university to instruct students on how to deal with DEI issues in the workplace and how to be DEI advocates. In order to get a certificate, students will need to complete 12 hours worth of training.
The course description for JEDI 101’s “Introduction to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” says, “Students will be introduced to topics including but not limited to racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia through readings drawn from classical and contemporary sources in history, philosophy, literature, and business. Course material will emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
JEDI 201 involves “Integrated Studies” with students engaging in the topics described above as the class promotes effective integration of the DEI material with a deeper and diverse application to best practices. JEDI 480 is the “Practical Application” course which has the students learning how to put what they’re learned into action in business and professional development through “direct placement in specific businesses and community organizations.” In order to move on from JEDI 101 to the other courses, the student has to attain a grade of “C” or better in the initial course.
According to The College Fix, a website on breaking campus news, the course will be started this fall and will be led by Professor Leland Harper. Harper is described on LinkedIn as an associate professor of Philosophy and an Associate Professor of Race, Justice and Equity Studies in addition to being an award-winning author, speaker and educator. His areas of interest are listed on another website as religion and philosophy of race. His posted resume shows that he’s written three books as well as many peer-reviews journal articles including one titled “Fear and the Importance of Race-Based Data in COVID-19 Policy Implementation.” His writings and teachings reflect his interest in both race and religion.
In addition to being a professor, Harper also runs a separate DEI consulting company that’s unaffiliated with the university but has partnered with them to offer implicit bias training.
Harper told The College Fix “(The course) allows our students to put theory into practice and gain real hands-on experience applying their knowledge in the workplace. While many of (other DEI programs) provide useful information, each of them focuses primarily on compliance.”
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He continued, “To me, this is the bare minimum that we should be doing – we should not just be trying to comply, and there is more that needs to be said about how and why we can foster ideas of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our society.”
He said the most “exciting” aspect of the certificate is JEDI 480 because “students will be placed at an external organization in their field to work with an on-site supervisor for approximately ten weeks to identify and address one or more organizational issues related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
The university reportedly received almost $35K so it could fund the program. The money comes from a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. The grant summary says the funds will be used to “design a new, coherent D&I certificate program at SHU that is qualitatively distinct from the D&I certificate programs offered at other institutions and which can be offered in either online or blended/hybrid formats.”
The summary goes on to say “D&I will be an interdisciplinary program between the Philosophy Department, English Department, History Department, Ethnic and Gender Studies Institute, and Business and Management Division (BAM). The program will be designed for students with interests in attainting a Diversity and Inclusion certificate in addition to their pursued degree at the undergraduate level.”
Dr. Stanley K. Ridgley, a Drexel University Professor, also spoke to The College Fix about the JEDI certificate and relayed his concerns about what is being taught. Ridgley has written a book on liberal indoctrination titled “Brutal Minds: The Dark World of Left-Wing Brainwashing in Our Universities” and said, “Students have been learning about ‘cultural differences’ since the Enlightenment university emerged in the 1700s – in fact, the Western University is the only academic institution in the world where these differences have been consistently accorded respect.”
He continued, “DEI certificates aren’t needed, because they aren’t about diversity. Their purpose is to funnel noxious ideology into the university under a false flag. The very vagueness of such program titles suggests that what actually appears in them is ideologically cramped and dogmatic.”
Sienna Heights isn’t the only college in Michigan offering DEI courses. The two top universities in the state have a commitment to DEI philosophy and teachings as well. East Lansings’ Michigan State University (MSU) states on their website that their “strategic plan sets forth the goal of being a national leader in increasing diversity, promoting inclusion, ensuring equity and eliminating disparities on our campus and beyond. They ask their students to expand their knowledge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with OPD (organization and professional development) programs.
OPD programs listed on the MSU website include ones titled “cultural competency”, “leading with cultural competency” and “mitigating bias in hiring.” These classes are available in the summer and fall as one-day in-person sessions. Their website also offers a certificate in “Organizational Inclusion & Diversity” for a registration fee of $1,000. The overview explains that they will provide information on how to help create and maintain an inclusive workplace so that they can eliminate implicit bias in recruiting, hiring and performance management. This half-day program will be held in October.
Additionally, among the many DEI classes that are offered by MSU to students in the fall of 2023 include “Diversity and Communication” which explores the interplay between communication processes and diverse identities such as race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and gender and “Social Differentiation and Inequality” which explores diverse perspectives and cultural practices associated with diverse characteristics.
Over in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, they offer a course titled “Leading for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education.” The description says the course is open “to professionals interested in learning more about leadership in higher education for a changing demographic or interested in developing their own leadership skills.” The five-week course is listed in the U of M’s online curriculum. The university also offers a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: the Basics” online module for students coming to the college so they can learn about the university’s initiatives.
DEI classes offered by U of M in fall 2023 includes courses on the legal aspects of DEI and practical implications for managerial responsibilities such as hiring, firing and giving performance reviews as well as common workplace issues like harassment, discrimination, and privacy. There is also a class called “Business, Sustainability and Justice” where students “will engage with the intersection of business, sustainability, and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).”
The information provided for the class described above says, “This course is designed to help students recognize and analyze how businesses’ approaches to sustainability support and/or neglect issues of DEIA. The course offers students an opportunity to develop critical thinking on topics such as businesses’ impact on environmental and social justice. Class sessions will be experiential and discussion-based.”
