Can Higher Education Be Rescued From Grip of DEI?

Claudine Gay resigned Jan. 2 as Harvard’s president following outrage over antisemitism at the Ivy League school and amid claims that Gay plagiarized in her academic writings. Her resignation provides higher education institutions an opportunity to reconsider the leftist agenda-laden waters most “elite” colleges and universities swim in. 

As more people realize the true agenda of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, Cornell law professor William Jacobson says they see that “we now need to get rid of DEI.” But a big hurdle is that DEI officers and those employed at universities to promote the DEI agenda are “everywhere on campuses, and they’re gonna fight for their jobs,” Jacobson says, adding that “a lot of money is involved here.”

Asked whether he thinks higher education can be saved, Jacobson tells “The Daily Signal Podcast” it’s a question he wrestles with. 

“I don’t know if academia can be saved,” Jacobson says. “And I’ve said many times, for many years, it certainly cannot be reformed from within.” 

Jacobson joins the podcast to explain how antisemitism at Cornell, Harvard, and other elite colleges and universities has shone a light on the harms of the DEI agenda and how there may still be a way for higher education to move away from a radical leftist agenda. 

Listen to the full conversation below: 

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