The College Fix

‘There is a culture of fear on campus,’ one student said

Stanford University students are required to answer how they will contribute to diversity as a prerequisite to applying for a “Global Entrepreneurial Marketing” class, a mandate one undergrad calls a prime example of a “culture of fear on campus.”

A Sept. 6 post on X that has since amassed 146,000-plus views features a screenshot of a “Diversity and Inclusion Statement” students at Stanford must provide when applying to enroll in the marketing class offered by the Department of Management Science and Engineering.

The post went viral around the same time Stanford made headlines and garnered praise for supporting an institutional neutrality pledge from an administration level. It also comes as many universities in mostly red-states have abolished DEI mandates for hiring as a result of legislation.

“Diversity is an important part of the mission of the Stanford MS&E Department and this class. Please use this opportunity to describe how you will contribute to a culture of diversity and inclusion in this class,” the enrollment requirement states.

The course description states it will teach skills “needed to market new technology-based products to customers around the world” in a class that has limited enrollment and an admissions application process.

“…Course themes: marketing toolkit, targeting markets and customers, product marketing and management, partners and distribution, sales and negotiation, and outbound marketing.”

Here’s what some @Stanford engineering instructors are requiring of prospective students for course enrollment. @TheFIREorg @HdxAcademy @AFA_Alliance @glukianoff @kewhittington @goACTA @PoliakoffACTA @StanfordEng pic.twitter.com/tomn4DRGA6

— Jonathan Rauch (@jon_rauch) September 7, 2024

Stanford media relations declined The College Fix’s request for comment.

An undergrad at Stanford had provided the screenshot to Jonathan Rauch, a prolific author, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and contributor to The Atlantic, who was the one who posted the screenshot of the required question.

Rauch verified to The Fix his source and provided quotes from the students.

“I speak anonymously because I fear retaliation by the Stanford community. There is a culture of fear on campus, where many undergraduates seek to shut down, shame, and silence views they find disagreeable,” the student told The College Fix.

“Additionally, professors and teaching fellows hold the power in the classroom, and many use this authority to stifle dissent, critical questions, and non-conformers,” the student said, who added a follow-up email was sent to students from a Stanford administrator urging them to take the required questionnaire “as soon as possible.”

“I find it extremely disappointing and alarming that Stanford engineering has begun requiring DEI pledges for course enrollment. Stanford made itself famous by breaking norms and traditions, not by enforcing conformity and group-think. Engineering classrooms should be teaching the course material, not politics or ideology,” the student said.

Rauch’s most recent book is “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth,” described on his website as “a spirited and deep-diving account of how to push back against disinformation, canceling, and other new threats to our fact-based epistemic order.”

He told The College Fix he disagrees with the DEI mandate.

“I believe it is inappropriate to require students to make a statement about their commitment to diversity and inclusion in order to qualify for a course … or for a grade … or for an academic honor,” Rauch said via email.

“While Stanford as a whole should expect students to conduct themselves in a civil, respectful manner, conditioning participation in academic programs or activities on social or political commitments treads dangerously close to compelled speech, if it does not actually cross that line,” he said.

“Moreover (and unfortunately), the term ‘diversity and inclusion,’ in today’s academic context, has acquired controversial political overtones which students may justifiably hesitate to endorse,” he added.

“A student could reasonably conclude that the teachers of this course intend to screen out students who disagree with them politically. Stanford should tell these teachers to cut it out.”

The X post received many responses from scholars criticizing Stanford for requiring students to participate in the DEI statement.

Yale Law School professor and Academic Freedom Alliance President Keith Whittington, responded: “Deeply inappropriate. Never heard of such a thing.”

Dr. Bertha Madras, professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School, replied: “Diversity of thought, critical thinking are essential elements of education.”

“As the scientific method is a universal approach to seeking truth, students who learn, master materials will feel inclusion,” she added.

Adam Dixon, the Adam Smith chair in sustainable capitalism at Heriot-Watt University, responded: “They might as well ask students for their voting intentions and personal beliefs on any range of topic. This is chilling to say the least.”

“As an engineering prof who’s educated over 3800 seniors, here’s my diversity statement: ‘I literally don’t care what you are or what you think you are. We’re all going to work together, and get this thing done,’” said Charles Pezeshki, Washington State University professor.

Stanford employs nearly 200 DEI employees as of May. Another analysis found that Stanford’s administrators nearly outnumber undergraduates enrolled at the university.

MORE: Stanford now has 177 DEI employees, research finds

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