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The administrators of the Science and Technology Studies program at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, invited scholars to submit papers to a “New Voices in Science and Technology Studies” symposium to be held from November 1-3. The program description states: “We aim to create an inclusive, intellectually enriching experience for all involved, including the visiting speakers and the faculty and students of Williams.” (Emphasis added.)
The school’s use of the term “inclusive” sounds welcoming. The Equal Employment Opportunity Statement at the end of the announcement notes: “Beyond meeting fully its legal obligations for non-discrimination, Williams College is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community where members from all backgrounds can live, learn, and thrive.”
The description of the symposium, however, sends a message that the invitation is not as “inclusive” as its organizers pretend. The invitation is limited to showcasing the work of early-career scholars from “historically underrepresented groups.”
Reading further, we find:
Individuals from underrepresented groups in the professoriate are specifically defined here as African Americans, Alaska Natives, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx [a gender-neutral neologism, used instead of Latino or Latina], Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.
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Applicants were asked to submit “a brief statement, no more than a sentence or two, confirming your self-identification as a member of a historically underrepresented group.”
By that criteria, might not senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, who has self-identified as being partially of Native American heritage, qualify for participation?
A bigger question, however, is how does an institution that touts its commitment to “building a diverse and inclusive community where members from all backgrounds can live, learn, and thrive” justify its decision to exclude those whose identification is white or European?
News of the anti-white discriminatory policy of Williams college was broken in a report by Brittany Slaughter, a student journalist at Liberty University in Virginia, and published online by The College Fix, a website operated by The Student Free Press Association.
Another report by The College Fix’s editor, Jennifer Kabbany, posted in April, noted that Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was hosting a series of “listening sessions” for faculty and staff of color that aim to advance inclusion efforts on campus.
The language used in the university’s description of the sessions would be almost comical if not for its hypocritical double standard. “Dear faculty and staff colleagues, this is a reminder about our upcoming listening sessions on inclusion that I am holding for faculty and staff of color over the next several weeks,” The College Fix quoted from an April 18 e-mail from Michele Gillespie, dean of the college, to campus employees.
One wonders how anyone could state that a listening session on “inclusion” could — by definition — exclude faculty and staff who were not “of color” with a straight face!
Perhaps the “progressive” mind is capable of reconciling “inclusion” with “exclusion” simultaneously.
Photo: FangXiaNuo / E+ / Getty Images Plus
Related article:
Anti-White Bigotry on the Rise in College Newspapers
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
