Parents Fed Up with Universities’ Extreme Diversity Policies in the U.S.

Parents across the United States have grown increasingly frustrated with the diversity policies adopted by universities in recent years, according to a new survey. The discontent comes as no surprise, given that, under the guise of promoting diversity, white students have faced discrimination from nursery level all the way through to higher education. Some pupils even admitted to being afraid to express their views. However, Donald Trump's presidency took a firm stance against such discriminatory practices.

Parents want colleges and universities to place less emphasis on race in scholarship awards or staffing decisions, and they overwhelmingly believe that transgender competitors should be kept out of women’s sports, a new poll highlighted by the New York Post reveals.

Under the Biden administration, universities in the United States have taken diversity policies too far.
(Source: Pexels)

A firm 54 percent of American parents with children between the ages of 15 and 21 firmly oppose university policies of prioritizing race on certain scholarships, and 57 percent oppose hiring decisions made with a racial preference, according to a survey commissioned by Defending Education, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group.

On the topic of transgenderism, 60% of respondents said they don’t believe transgender competitors should be allowed into women’s sports, and 61% want women’s bathrooms to be reserved for biological females.

“It’s no surprise that American parents and students expect a college experience that is academically rigorous, open to diverse viewpoints, and focused on preparing graduates for meaningful careers,” Paul Runko, Defending Education’s director of strategic initiatives for K-12, told the New York Post. He said:

Colleges and universities should take note when families express concern about campus climates — calling for environments free from political extremism, ideological agendas, antisemitism, and campus disruptions.

Parents appeared uneasy with some of the colleges' and universities' politically fraught practices on many culture war issues across the country, the survey indicated.

Over the past two years, anti-Israel protests have swept campuses across the country amid the Israel-Hamas war, leading to fierce debates over how administrators should respond.

Sixty-seven percent of parents believe colleges and universities should implement antisemitism bias training for faculty and staff. Sixty-nine percent also backed higher education institutions that discipline students for disrupting campus activities, the international V4NA news agency highlights. 

Parents also generally expressed support for increased transparency in higher education.

An overwhelming 82% said they want colleges to divulge their foreign funding sources,

while a hefty 79% said colleges and universities should prioritize American applicants over foreign ones in the admission process.

White Students Face Discrimination from Kindergarten to University

As V4NA previously highlighted, white students are increasingly being pushed aside in more and more schools under the Biden administration, in the name of social justice.

"Come hang out while we get a chance to know each other and build our community as we kick off this schoolyear." An elementary school in California's San Francisco Bay Area sparked outrage after it arranged a Playdate Social Event for students and their parents. The invitation was sent to all students' families; however, many were outraged because the organizer, the Equity Committee, specified that only those from Black, Brown, or API (Asian and Pacific Islander) families were welcome to attend the event.

In short: white students were excluded from the mixer.

The Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University in Ontario is reminding students they have “important roles to play in helping make Western a safer, proactive space to learn and grow.” As a part of this role, the school formed an “Anti-Racism Task Force” to “dismantle whiteness” and “prevent… other forms of systemic oppression” within its faculty, as Rebel News highlighted in a piece published back in 2023.

A study published last year also revealed that two out of three students in the United States reported exercising “self-censorship” during classroom discussions on certain topics.

Sixty percent of college students "strongly" or "somewhat" agreed with the statement that “the climate on campus prevents some people from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive.”

Trump takes aim at ideology-driven education

Following his election, Donald Trump began dismantling discriminatory practices and the growing wave of antisemitism within the American education system. One of the most striking examples of this effort is the case of Harvard University.

As is known, 

the U.S. federal government froze more than $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University in April after the institution failed to meet the administration’s expectations to curb political activism on campus.

The decision came after Alan Garber, president of the Boston-based university, stated in an open letter addressed to the university community on Monday that Harvard would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands. In the letter, the university leader declared that Harvard would not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. He added that no government would be allowed to dictate what a private institution teaches or how it shapes its admissions policies.

The federal government informed Harvard’s leadership by letter that it risks losing some $9 billion in federal support if it does not implement comprehensive reforms in its administration and governance by August 2025.

Among the Trump administration’s expectations is that federal funding should be contingent on merit-based admissions and hiring processes, with gender, race, or ethnic background no longer playing any role.

Further requirements include overhauling academic programmes linked to antisemitism, reforming student disciplinary procedures, and dismantling so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes. 

Following this, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government in an attempt to block the freeze of more than $2.2 billion (approximately £1.7 billion) in funding.

Cover photo: Illustration (Source: Pexels)