my d.e.i. experiences
diversity, equity, and inclusion is ultimately the goal. if we could create a space that invites every person’s viewpoints without fear of isolation, i believe most of america’s division would be immensely diminished. this means that in a sociology class, a student’s teacher would ask someone with a progressive view of the gender spectrum to explain this, those with a conservative view of the gender spectrum to explain this, and maybe even give them bonus points for their bravery. this means that the conservative student wouldn’t fear being brushed off and shushed. this is not the case today.
(before i begin, please note that i agree with a professor’s right to their own personal opinion. i don’t believe any human being is 100% unbiased and i don’t expect anyone to be. i believe in a professor’s right to have an image of them & their partner on their desk. i believe in a professor’s right to personally protest, write in the school newspaper, and even share their personal opinion with the class (yet not treat them like a captive audience); as long as the class can share their opinions with the professor as well. there are several spaces that are exclusively Christian/conservative. this is a problem too. this blog is only to discuss the issues and hypocrisy in terms like “inclusivity” on public campuses).
as a student at Montana State University, i feel like experienced several instances of discrimination. i did a photography project about the unborn, using fetal models to depict stages of development. granted, this was for a professor who asked us to state our pronouns on the first day. no, I was not a photographer. no, i probably didn’t do the right exposure, and i still couldn’t tell you what my aperture was at (whatever that is). after submitting the project, my professor told me that if i was going to tackle such a controversial issue, i should at least have the basics down, and gave me a low score (i don’t remember what it was). in all honesty, i don’t think what the image depicted should’ve made a difference. it felt like she was grading my position on the issue, rather than my photography skills. maybe i’m wrong.
another instance was in a drugs & society class, which spoke about how drugs during pregnancy can result in a “spontaneous abortion.” i raised my hand and asked about that term. i said that the word abortion means deliberate termination of pregnancy. so how could something that’s deliberate also be spontaneous? isn’t that an oxymoron? my fellow students told me they had the same question. my professor responded in a humiliating way; “if you have a problem with this term, take it up with the entire medical community.” the class chuckled.
another instance was in a human sexuality class, which depicted a sketch of an abortion. the drawing was from planned parenthood’s own website, it was a drawing of a light pink circle being suctioned through a tube. i raised my hand and said that i believed the image was biased and didn’t accurately depict the procedure. i said that during a surgical abortion, a child has fingers, toes, and all his/her limbs. i said images like this don’t give women the full picture, which is why women often live to regret it, they aren’t educated (often by leftist and secular educators) as to fetal development. after this professor got defensive, she finally said “someone else has to handle this.” after her prompting, other students started yelling at me. one student tried to back up the professor, claiming that she had plans to describe fetal development. i said i had looked at her lecture notes prior to the class; as far as i could tell, she didn’t.
i know my instances are minor, too. montana isn’t known for being particularly liberal. Conservative students in liberal cities are outright silenced. conservative groups are afraid of being defunded by their schools (meanwhile thousands go to lgbtq and minority groups, which do deserve space at a public university). they’re afraid of being considered a hate group or restricted to “free-speech zones.” these free-speech zones are unconstitutional. additionally, student tuition is going toward “health centers” which provide services that go against conservative consciences.
overwhelmingly, college campuses are not inclusive. they pride themselves on including certain voices but in reality, they silence others, usually the Christian/conservative voice. they probably consider themselves the underdog, the counter-cultural voices, the voices for lgbtq+ freedom, reproductive freedom, environmentalism, and secularism. if this is the case, then i can understand why terms like “inclusivity” might be comforting. after feeling left out of conversations by “traditional” America, it’s reasonable for minorities and secular individuals to desire an inclusive & tolerant space. it’s important that as Christians, when we hear terms like “inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance” it’s a reaction to something; something we’ve likely perpetrated. if people were feeling included in the first place, they wouldn’t need to create a different space specifically devoted to it. as the pendulum swings from the far right to the far left, it’s swinging back to the right; the evolution of the culture wars. that’s another blog for another day.
today, when the right hears that our professors value inclusivity, diversity, and equity, we know what that means. it means we’re not welcome. it means that us raising our hands and explaining Jesus’s message on marriage, it will not be tolerated. these terms are ambiguous, intentionally so. you have to look beneath the surface to understand what’s really going on. Instead of saying “we value all voices, from conservative voices to liberal voices, from Muslim voices, to atheist voices, Jewish voices, Christian voices,” “all voices” is intentionally ambiguous and leads to further isolation and division. now, “inclusivity” means nothing anymore.
i believe that if professors were explicitly using terminology as stated above, there would be less confusion over who exactly is included. i know it sounds crazy, but i believe that if a professor said “whoever voted for trump, i’d love to hear why you did so,” and “whoever voted for biden, I’d love to hear why you did so” and “whoever voted for a third party or didn’t vote, i’d love to hear why you did so,” inclusivity would actually be accomplished. if we could stay kneutral, calling a spade a spade, rather than beating around the bush, our terms would mean something, inclusivity, and equity would be comforting to all students, and maybe our country’s division would diminish. if the goal of education is to educate, shouldn’t professors prepare students to encounter people with vastly different views? this shows how a well-meaning effort has proven to be a failed effort. that’s ok. let’s go back to the drawing board.
if you identify as a left-leaning individual, it’s ok to admit that this is true; that the experiences of your conservative friends are genuine and deserve attention, just as i hope that we would acknowledge and value your experience too. i will do everything i can to hold both parties accountable. that means that those of us who do identify with a particular party will be uncomfortable in this space about 50% of the time. that means we’re doing something right. that means we’re accomplishing kneutrality.