Liberal Scum are trying new tricks to avoid Trump’s moves: ANALYSIS: Rebrandings appear to be a possible compliance tactic to satisfy anti-DEI directives without fully dismantling ideology on campus

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ANALYSIS: Rebrandings appear to be a possible compliance tactic to satisfy anti-DEI directives without fully dismantling ideology on campus

Faced with pressure to eliminate their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, colleges and universities across the nation opted to rebrand such efforts as opposed to eliminating them altogether, a College Fix survey found.

While many universities did close their DEI offices, a large chunk opted to rename or revamp them, but kept a lot of the same employees and goals. In some cases, there were some staff reassignments and other bureaucratic shuffling, such as integration into other departments.

The survey looked at news reports, press releases and institutional websites to determine that over the last two years, at least 87 schools effectively renamed their DEI offices.

In contrast, 78 schools appeared to actually close their DEI offices and did not launch a similar program. In these cases, some employees or positions were terminated. Many of these closures were located in Republican strongholds.

The full findings, including hyperlinks to source material, can be accessed on The College Fix’s tracking spreadsheet.

The findings illustrate a strategy among many institutions to maintain DEI programs under less controversial terminology more palpable to the masses and that follows the law, as many of these moves were prompted by state legislation, federal guidance or executive orders.

In addition to Republican-controlled states passing laws in recent years to curb DEI in higher education, President Donald Trump in January issued an executive order deeming the divisive ideology a violation of civil rights and discrimination laws.

The rebrandings appear to be a possible compliance tactic to satisfy such directives without fully dismantling a DEI ideology on campus. Some of the new terms used to take the place of DEI include offices focused on “Belonging,” “Student Success,” “Community,” “Access,” “Engagement,” or “Inclusive Excellence.”

Smoke and mirrors

“Diversity apparatchiks in taxpayer-funded schools are busily rebranding themselves so as to remain in place. Case Western Reserve University replaced its old ‘Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement’ with a new ‘Office for Campus Enrichment and Engagement,’” scholar Heather Mac Donald pointed out in a recent speech.

“That new Office for Campus Enrichment and Engagement is led by the same diversicrat who in his previous guise as Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement promoted the book ‘You Sound Like A White Girl: The Case For Rejecting Assimilation.’”

The group Accuracy in Media has recently published a series of videos showing former DEI administrators in the University of North Carolina system admitting to undercover journalists secretly recording them that they continued to advance DEI under the radar.

“If you’re looking for an outward DEI position, it’s not going to happen,” a University of North Carolina Charlotte official said. “But if you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities.”

In another undercover video, an administrator at UNC Asheville said regarding DEI work she has got to “keep it quiet” and responded that “I love breaking rules” when asked if she keeps doing it on the “down-low.”

Different approach

Several institutions took a slightly different approach, and renamed or replaced their DEI offices with units specifically focused on “Civil Rights compliance” or “Title IX,” suggesting a shift toward legally mandated non-discrimination efforts as opposed to targeting microaggressions, white privilege, bias reports, and toxic masculinity.

Typically the announcements were couched with phrases such as “streamlining,” “integration,” or “refocusing,” which indicate administrators sought to manage public perception and internal morale amid structural change. The tactic was likely in part due to anger, frustration and protests among faculty and students who strongly support DEI.

But whether they closed the DEI office or rebranded it, all types of colleges and universities large and small across the nation were affected, primarily public institutions but some private ones too.

Beyond central DEI offices, some institutions closed or restructured programs focused on specific identities, such as gender equity centers, multicultural centers, and LGBTQ+ resource centers.

However, while there’s been a major shift toward DEI closures and rebrandings, one recent report from Defending Education found hundreds of universities still maintain DEI offices or departments.

Between the office rebrandings and the universities that still openly operate DEI offices, it shows that the ideology still has a stronghold in America’s higher education system.

Source: https://www.thecollegefix.com/nearly-90-universities-have-rebranded-their-dei-offices-college-fix-survey-finds/