That the new administration is opposed to "DEI" (and is quick to use it as a scapegoat for just about everything bad) is unsurprising and was expected, but the aggressiveness of today's anti-DEI purge is still jarring and disturbing. They are creating an atmosphere in which any attempt to hire, promote, or engage with anyone other than a white male will be regarded as inherently suspect.
The damage - to both individuals and to our institutions - will likely be both swift and long lasting.
I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. EVERY SINGLE TIME I've been part of a committee or decision-making body that was explicitly mandated to consider diversity as part of its process, it resulted in better, more thoughtful decisions and outcomes. EVERY TIME.
Diversity yields enormous, and often unexpected, benefits. And inclusion is not a zero-sum game.
@mattblaze I am quite often wrong, incorrect, or simply a dunderhead.
I find that I am a vastly better thinker when I am surrounded by good minds. It does not matter what kind of body encloses that mind - race, sex, orientation, etc simply are not relevant to the quality of the correction that these people can give me.
So I'm less for diversity as measured by some of our social lines and more for diversity of minds.
I look at diversity inclusion based on social/sexual, etc criteria as beneficial because it opens up and expands that pool of good minds.
I always wonder at people who are afraid of people who don't look like themselves. I think "Gee, that person is self limiting his/her/... possibilities."
Matt Blaze
Karl Auerbach
JenInMass