UF has fired all staff in positions related to DEI.

Big businesses want broad appeal and have different product lines aimed at different markets. It behooves them to have a diverse workforce.

 

LOL. Take off the “victim” glasses and you’ll see that these aren’t barriers for one group any more than any other group. Standardized tests are…..standard for a reason. Co-curricular activities are available to every student, and many schools have such activities focused specifically on black and hispanic students. Financial aid is “complex” for everyone, but there are specific grants and aid packages specifically for black and hispanic students.

UF has a number of frats/sororities for various ethinic/racial minorities. Your assumption that all white kids are magically “prepared” for college any more than black or asian kids is absurd. Yes, having a job while in college is hard, but LOTS of kids of all races and ethnicities do it (I did, because I had to - shocking, I’m white!). Language barriers? Pretty sure most kids enrolling at UF speak/read English.

 

Fairness of OPPORTUNITY is the definition of that pesky little “E” in DEI. That is “Equity”. Now, it might not translate to that in real life, but conceptually that is its purpose.

 

They should. There are plenty of ESL programs.

If they don’t, they are not prepared to attend any state university in Florida….. and most likely any state in the US.

“Pretty sure most kids enrolling at UF speak/read English.”

 

Your conclusion is spot on - cosmetic diversity is meaningless. But, can we agree that same company is better off with a board filled with true diversity?

 

Totally agree that should be the definition. But it’s often operationalized as equality of outcomes. If you get a better SAT score than I do, it MUST be because of some systemic bias and therefore the SAT must be eliminated so that we are equal.

 

True, but good concepts face huge barriers to becoming reality. Is it better to just throw in the towel in the concept, or try harder to reach the goal?

 

Standardized tests refers to the test being standard not to the opportunity being standard. Again, if somebody has access to SAT prep programs while somebody else does not, it is not standard opportunity. Also just because some white people overcome some barriers does not mean that there is fairness of opportunity.

Financial aid may be complex for everyone, but some of the everyone don't need it due to prior generations having access to education, the ability to build wealth etc. that wasn't available to all people at the time.

Obviously, language is also not a toggle switch, where you speak it or don't. You can speak a language and not understand certain terms and idioms.

I don't think this post at all addresses fairness of opportunity.

 

My high school football coach said “Water makes you weak!”

He never saw DEI coming.

 

Khan Academy offers 100% free SAT/ACT prep classes. Likewise, MANY white kids (like me) rely on loans to pay for school. That's the cost of striving for a better future. In my family, I had 1 parent go to a military academy before me and that's it. But that wasn't a "barrier" for me, just a fact of my life. At the rate you're going, why not just cite the speed limit as a "barrier" that some groups cannot overcome because they grew up in a country with more lax driving rules. Come on, man! Just because something isn't free or easy doesn't mean it's unfair or that some kind of free handout should be offered.

 

If you're saying that we should keep pushing for equality of opportunity, then we're 100% in agreement.

 

Depends on the company, and the type of diversity, but generally yes.

You want differences of viewpoint, opinion, background, and expertise in the boardroom. That sort of thing “generally” yields better long-term outcomes.

 

Why would a parent going to college be a "barrier?" Not having a parent go to college is a barrier. Having a parent go to college (military academies are colleges) is not a barrier.

You really can't compare what Khan Academy offers to what a student's parents with resources can buy. There is a reason that parents with resources still purchase SAT prep rather than doing it for free. That is not equality of opportunity.

Differing likelihoods of relying on loans matters. If you have multiple populations in which there are differing mixtures of needing loans, that doesn't suggest equality of opportunity across those population s.

Just because something isn't easy or free doesn't mean that the opportunity is equal.

 

Emmitt Smith has chimed in, and he's not happy:

 

The University of Alabama at Gainesville.

 

I'm well aware that military academies are colleges, just pointing out that not every white kid come from a long line of Ivy League graduates with a stockpile of cash on hand to pay for their college.

You seem to be of the view that opportunities could somehow be 100% equal for everyone. That will never be the case. If it was, and someone started earning more than me, I guess I'd cry "equity" and demand a portion of their salary in the name of "fairness". After all, if I have less money than them it must be a "barrier" for me and must be caused by some systemic disadvantage that I face, right?

Dear Emmitt: State law prohibits UF from using state or federal money for DEI. Want the office to remain open? Then donate the money. UF is complying with state law.

 

You don't have to attend an Ivy League school to have the advantages, both economically and socially, of having gone to college. Those advantages include passing down certain advantages that children.

Now, as to the rest, you said you wanted equality of opportunity. Now you are saying opportunities can't be equal. So how is the goal equality of opportunity if you are outright saying that isn't possible and seem to be suggesting that it is not worth pursuing? Is equality of opportunity a meaningless slogan meant to suggest not doing anything to deal with disparities due to both policies and social structures that systematically disadvantaged people?

 

Why not the Board of Trustees and their enforcers. Although, it may have been required by law. A university is an educational institution, not a brainwashing institution, I hope. I took a class based on Jesus, although not a believer. It was long ago and the professor later became a law professor. If not exposed to all views and all ideas, why not just send all to.the brainwashing room.

Teaching Communism is a farce. There is little of that. It is in the countries that expose is just another form of a dictatorship. The US is headed to a obligatory, if not already there.

Those who want all power in a President will be happy so long as he does what they want. What happens when that changes. I am glad I will be dead when the worst happens

 

Donating money would do absolutely nothing. As soon as he donates it, it would become UF's money, which they could not use for "DEI." Thing is UF didn't have to do this to comply with state law. They could have moved these people into different positions and changed what the offices do to comply with state law. Sasse made a choice to do this, and he made a choice to be loud about it.

 

Wow....100% exactly equal opportunity for everyone would be an ideal state. I don't believe it's achievable, but we should work to provide equal opportunities where it's reasonably achievable.