Texas Tech’s business college is offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion class for the 2024-2025 academic year.
After learning about a “Queering Agriculture” seminar on-campus in June, Texas Tech leadership reiterated their position that university faculty follow both the letter and the spirit of a 2023 state law banning DEI in higher education.
Senate Bill 17 prohibits universities from establishing a DEI office, using DEI criteria in their hiring practices, or requiring employees or prospective employees to attend DEI training. However, it does not apply to academic instruction.
Texas Tech’s 2024-2025 academic catalog lists a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizations” course for this academic year. It is an undergraduate management course offered by Texas Tech’s Jerry S. Rawls College of Business. The course description states the class “examines various forms of diversity, effective D&I practices, impacts of individual D&I perspectives on work experience, and the necessity of D&I in organizational performance.”
The course was last offered in the spring of 2024. It was taught by Dr. Christy Nittrourer. The syllabus revealed how saturated the course is in the woke DEI ideology.
The course purpose stated that research in DEI guides “how to be an employee, coworker, or employer who seriously and sincerely values diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. This is the perspective we take, as we start our course.”
The course description revealed more DEI in the class DNA. “This course examines both the individual perspective on diversity, equity and inclusion on one’s work experience and the impact of diversity, equity and inclusion on organizational performance,” it read. “We examine various forms of diversity (e.g., culture, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation), and discuss inclusion as a bottom-line necessity for today’s organizations and effective diversity, equity and inclusion practices as necessities for effective organizations.”
Furthermore, it stated that the “course is designed to prepare individuals to meet the challenge of diversity, equity and inclusion through experiential exercises and applied projects.”
Course learning objectives include explaining “privilege and how it affects individuals and institutions,” ensuring students “understand the role of prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, racism, and oppression” and can “identify effective and ineffective approaches to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
This course trains students on how to practically apply DEI in the real world. One of the course assignments is a “‘Make a Change’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Project.” Teams of four to six students will create “a proposal for a project relevant to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) in Organizations that you think would be valuable to investigate. The idea can come from your own work/service experiences, but should be grounded in the reading and research we do in the course.”
Texas Scorecard contacted the dean of the Rawls College of Business, Dr. Margaret L. Williams, for comment. “The field of diversity, equity and inclusion, is widely viewed and accepted as a focus of teaching and research within the field of management,” she said. She confirmed to Texas Scorecard that this course is still being offered, but not this semester. “It’s an elective course in the management major.”
When asked if by offering this course, the college was following the rule and spirit of the Texas DEI ban, Williams replied, “Yes.” She added that, as dean, the Rawls College of Business intends “to comply with the letter and the spirit” of the ban.
Williams was also asked about multiple reports regarding the negative results DEI has brought where implemented in the business world, specifically the Disney Corporation. “It’s important for people to understand how to manage in a diverse workplace, and because results differ depending upon how people approach diversity, equity and inclusion, it’s very important to study these things, and that’s what we do in the business school,” she replied. “One of the things we do in the business school is to study what works and what doesn’t work within the field of diversity, equity and inclusion.”
She referenced page two of the course syllabus that stated, “Research in this area provides a guide to what works, maybe more importantly, what DOESN’T WORK, and how to be an employee, coworker, or employer who seriously and sincerely values diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.”
Texas Scorecard asked Williams what she thinks doesn’t work when it comes to DEI. “I’m not well informed enough to answer that question,” she replied.
This course appears to violate the Texas Tech University System’s definition of Diversity in their Code of Ethical Conduct: “Stop seeing differences. Start seeing strengths.”
When asked if this type of course aligns with Texas Tech’s values, Williams said the university’s strategic plan has a statement on how they wish to educate and empower a diverse student body. “I’m not exactly sure why that question is relevant. I guess I would say that’s not a question for me to answer,” she said. “I can’t speak fully on Texas Tech’s values, other than what I just said; that in our strategic plan, it says that we endeavor to educate and empower a diverse student body.”
Williams has served as dean since April 2017.
This is the second “diversity” and “inclusion” course found at a Texas Tech college. The first was found at Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.
Texas Scorecard will continue to examine higher education in the state. If you or anyone you know has information regarding universities, please contact our tip line: scorecardtips@protonmail.com.
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