“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”

There was an item in the Volokh Conspiracy a few days ago, about the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression suing over California Community College mandates to support diversity, equity, and inclusion, so called. The First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech is interpreted as protecting people, in most circumstances, from compelled speech; they cannot be required to say what they do not believe. At some government-operated or supported educational institutions, people being considered for faculty positions are being required to declare their belief in and support for “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” which means in practice means not pledging to treat students and colleagues fairly, regardless of skin color, but accepting a particular political agenda and set of doctrines. I definitely hope that the lawsuit succeeds.

There is also a push for DEI at the Patent and Trademark Office, and presumably at other federal agencies. We were recently notified of an extension of the deadline to apply for positions as DEI Advisors and Ambassadors, the extension suggesting that not too many people were interested, despite the opportunity to write off time for hours spent on DEI activities instead of examining patent applications. I considered applying, in the spirit of boring from within, but filling out the application would have required me to write hundreds of words of blather, and I did not have the time or the stomach for that.