DEI - The End of America’s Ivy League?
Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. - Ecclesiastes 7:12 NIV
God’s word teaches us the value of wisdom, excellence, perseverance, and good stewardship of what opportunities He has given us, as well as the blessing that comes upon those who pursue such things in order to bring glory to God and use what He has given to be a blessing to others.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
Modern society has become saturated with anti-Christian ideologies, and instead of biblical principles, has pursued atheist, Marxist inspired initiatives to address societal inequity and institutionalized oppression with initiatives like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Superficially, these initiatives and movements appear to be kind, compassionate, and empathetic, and most of those who embrace them likely have the best of intentions. However, these movements have become increasingly divorced from the foundation of modern society that has been built on the truth found only in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God of creation revealed in Jesus Christ, the God of the Judeo-Christian scriptures, the Holy Bible. When put into practice, they attempt to philosophically, spiritually, and otherwise, create a version of “Heaven on earth” without the true God of Creation as the foundation, and they inevitably and systematically erode the society they purport to save. This is not unlike all false teachings and religions that are rooted in deception and distract us from the truth and ultimately lead us to our own destruction.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:10 NIV
Once a pinnacle of educational excellence, as reviewed by Victor Davis Hanson in his commentary below, the American Ivy league institutions have increasingly been corrupted by DEI and like initiatives, which have placed the focus not on merit and the eternal principles of God’s truth, righteousness, wisdom, goodness, mercy, and love, but rather on dangerous ideologies which offer a perverted view of education and morality that sounds appealing, but instead, brings deception and corruption.
Arguably, if this is happening in these time-honored institutions in the United States, none of our modern educational institutions are totally immune. The downstream effects are bound to have a similarly negative effect beyond the walls of academia and will permeate throughout society at large if we let it (and it already has). The consciousness we need to respond to this is not class (communism), race (wokeism), or gender (LGBTQIA+) consciousness, but rather, the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, the Anointed One, promised by the God of Israel.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 NIV
As Christians, while we engage in the battle of ideas, we must remember, and remind ourselves, however, that the true battle is not against our brothers and sisters that may think and believe differently than us. Rather, it is a spiritual battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of humanity. Ultimately, the truth and power of the Good News of Jesus Christ is for all those who are willing to turn to God and receive the gift of His Salvation, and His desire is that no one would perish, but receive eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - John 3:16-17 NIV
Check out this commentary from Victor Davis Hanson as he reviews the issue of DEI and its effect on the quality of education in American Ivy League universities.
Victor Davis Hanson is a nationally syndicated columnist, a Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches military history and classical culture.