The Battle for "Viewpoint Diversity"

"Republicans and conservative-leaning groups across the country have been using these terms prolifically, and at times interchangeably, to explain what's lacking in higher education today and why the overhauls they're pushing are necessary to save the sector from domination by the left. They've written op-eds, used social media and passed numerous state laws seeking to increase the likelihood that faculty will teach and research topics they're interested in."

"Now the White House is fueling their push, demanding viewpoint diversity under threat of huge funding cuts. Some say universities need to reform themselves to regain public and governmental support. But even academics and higher ed observers who may agree that universities have become too one-dimensional now find themselves defending the academy against a conservative campaign to force change under the banner of terms that sometimes sound like euphemisms."

"To take one example of conservatives forcing change, Indiana Republicans last year passed Senate Enrolled Act 202, which threatens the jobs of even tenured faculty at public universities who don't foster intellectual diversity. The law leaves it to university boards of trustees to define what intellectual diversity means in individual disciplines, to gauge whether professors have delivered it and to decide how much they should be punished if they fail."

Conservatives and conservative-leaning groups argue that universities lack conservative perspectives and use terms like 'viewpoint diversity,' 'civics,' and 'Western civilization' to justify reforms. They have promoted change through op-eds, social media campaigns, state laws, and advocacy to encourage faculty to teach and research preferred topics. The White House has demanded viewpoint diversity and tied compliance to potential funding cuts. State laws such as Indiana's Senate Enrolled Act 202 threaten tenured faculty jobs by leaving definitions of intellectual diversity and enforcement to university trustees. Increasing political pressure has pushed universities into debates over academic freedom, curricular content, and governance.

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