Students are Unhappy that DEI is Forcing Good Professors out of Higher Education

Good professors are exiting higher education in response to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies 

Earlier this month Campus Reform Reporter Gabrielle Etzel, spoke with University of Alabama (UA) professor Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki, who announced on Twitter his departure from higher education due to the emphasis of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in academia.

“[T]he push for equity in science above all else has dramatically changed the profession of an academic professor,” the Assistant Professor of Geochemistry stated. DEI considerations are “involved in every decision made by faculty, the university, and funding agencies. It’s everywhere, and it does much more harm than good.”

[Related: ANALYSIS: DEI leaves students unequipped for workforce, companies step in]

But now students have reacted to his departure, saying it’s a shame that DEI has forced him out of the field.

Riley McArdle, a political science student who took one of Wielicki’s courses, said that it’s “sad” to see Wielicki leaving the field.

“He’s a really matter-of-fact professor,” McArdle told Campus Reform, “which makes it all the more agonizing to see that universities are squeezing good instructors like him out of their fields by forcing them to bend to the DEI gospel or leave.”

“It’s sad that college students are paying so much money for the university to deprive us of the chance to just learn the facts and continue on with pursuing our degrees,” McArdle added.

[Related: REPORT: The faculty DEI statement is ‘The New Loyalty Oath’]

“The rise of illiberalism in the name of DEI is the antithesis of the principles that universities were founded on,” Wielicki wrote. “These are no longer places that embrace the freedom of exchanging ideas and will punish those that go against the narrative.”

UA College Republicans chair Ginger Morrow told Campus Reform, “I hate that this professor was in part motivated by DEI to end his career at UA, but the sad truth is that this wasn’t the first and won’t be the last.”

Campus Reform has reached out to the UA for comment, but has yet to receive a response. This article will be updated accordingly.

Originally published by Campus Reform. Republished with permission.

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