LSU spent over $2 million on DEI programs favoring 'underrepresented' students
The Louisiana State University (LSU) System has directed over $2 million in taxpayer funds toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, according to a recent report.
The DEI spending included financial expenditures on scholarships that gave preference to 'underrepresented minorities,' The Center Square reports.
The Louisiana State University System (LSU) has directed over $2 million in taxpayer funds toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, according to a recent report.
The DEI spending included financial expenditures on scholarships that gave preference to “underrepresented minorities,” The Center Square reports.
One center at LSU Health Shreveport has internship programs that “focus on underrepresented students.” One program, which has been removed from the school’s website, required “participants to be underrepresented.”
“Admitted students were eligible to apply and students from under-represented minorities or disadvantaged backgrounds were given preference in the selection process,” records relating to another program state.
Meanwhile, LSU is reviewing or altering several DEI programs, including renaming the School of Medicine’s diversity office. At LSU’s School of Nursing, the former Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been renamed the Office of Engagement.
Last year, LSU’s Baton Rouge location took a step to remove DEI from its campus by eliminating some diversity programs and statements. For instance, LSU renamed its “Division of Inclusion, Civil Rights, and Title IX” to the “Division of Engagement, Civil Rights, and Title IX.”
This month, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced that the state will establish a new accreditation agency to combat DEI.
“This task force will ensure Louisiana’s public universities move away from DEI-driven mandates and toward a system rooted in merit-based achievement,” the governor said in a statement on Tuesday.
Louisiana’s agency will collaborate with a similar accreditation organization, the Commission for Public Higher Education, created this month with six other Republican-led states.
Despite having a chance to remove DEI course mandates in June, the Louisiana Senate voted against the measure.
Campus Reform has contacted the LSU System for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
