Recently, the legislature in my home state of Alabama told public four-year colleges to report how much they spend on “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The amount: $16.2 million.
Are taxpayers getting anything for this money?
DEI advocates say it’s a good investment. Paulette Granberry Russell, the president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, says that anti-DEI legislation ultimately would prevent historically marginalized students from fully engaging in higher education.
But is that true?
To find out, I looked at spending on DEI programs at prominent colleges and enrollment of black students at those schools.
Auburn University and the University of Alabama reported DEI budgets of $3 million each, according to AL.com. The University of Alabama enrolled 4,344 blacks in 2022 (less than 12% of its student body) and…
