DeSantis: Only ‘Colorblind’ Schools that Aren’t Doing DEI Should Be Accredited 

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Tonight,” 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said that if he’s elected president, the federal government will only select college and university accreditors that will only accredit schools if they’re “colorblind” and are “not trying to divide people on the basis of race” with things like DEI.

DeSantis stated, [relevant remarks begin around 7:55] “Well, first of all, the woke mind virus is basically a form of cultural Marxism. At the end of the day, it’s an attack on the truth. And because it’s a war on truth, I think we have no choice but to wage a war on woke. So, how does that work for a president? Some of it may be the bully pulpit, being willing to tell the truth and not being deluded by ideology, which we see in many aspects of our society. There are probably ways, though, that you can make a difference. Certainly, when you look at ESG and some of the things that [are] going on with major financial institutions in corporate America, we have every right to be pushing back on that. With education, the federal government approves the accreditors for universities. There’s a reason why universities are infested with things like DEI, yeah, some of it is they may want to do that, but some of it is the accreditors tell them you have to do that. Well, as president, I’ll make sure we’re approving accreditors that are going to do the opposite, that are going to say, you know what, we’re going to accredit you if you are a colorblind university, if you’re not trying to divide people on the basis of race.”

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