Condemn DEI censorship, protect campus research
Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion that has been submitted by a member of the Rice community. The views expressed in this opinion are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Thresher or its editorial board. All guest opinions are fact-checked to the best of our ability and edited for clarity and conciseness by Thresher editors.
The Office of the Provost announced that Rice’s DEI office will be renamed to the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence on Feb. 28. As a graduate student, I am not privy to the reasons for this rebranding. I hope that, in light of recent federal and state directives and ongoing censorship, it is obvious why I am wary, even if the office claims to continue to promote values of diversity, equity and inclusion while removing these words from its website.
To put it bluntly: If DEI programs are not illegal, why is Rice changing the name of this office?
This censorship seems like the university is overeager to comply with the federal government rather than standing up for the values it claims to protect. By renaming this office, Rice shifts the focus away from diversity, equity and inclusion and emphasizes institutional excellence over its constituent students.
While I recognize the need for continued federal and state funding, Rice does not have to over-comply with these changes. Rice is a private university, and thus, has the privilege to be able to ignore laws that public universities are forced to follow. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17 into law in 2023 which banned Texas higher education institutions from “conducting trainings, programs, or activities designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” This effectively forced public universities to close their cultural identity centers last year and fire employees who worked in DEI programs.
As other universities dismantle and censor their DEI programs, Rice has reaffirmed its commitment to DEI, protecting academic research and for holding other institutions accountable.
Earlier this month, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz published a database of federal grants aligning with what he terms “the radical left’s woke nonsense.” Just because a politician denounces critical scientific research and outreach programs, does this mean we must terminate them?
Are we allowing politicians to police our research and education and determine what is scientifically truthful or impactful to society? Are we censoring ourselves to comply with federal directives that are not only illegal and unconstitutional, but actively harming our communities?
These directives harm a number of people including, but not limited to: people of color, LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants, low-income families and individuals, people with disabilities and many other groups that have historically been and continue to be marginalized. DEI is broader than diverse university admissions or hires; it includes work accommodations and public outreach to our local communities. Banning DEI entirely is fundamentally harmful for Rice’s student body, researchers, faculty and staff and society as a whole.
I am calling upon Rice students, researchers, faculty and staff to protest Rice’s censorship and to advocate for protecting DEI and academic research on campus. I encourage U.S. citizens to contact their government officials to directly condemn these state and federal directives.
Please join the Chemistry Graduate Student Association, Graduate Student Association and other student organizations to walk out March 7 at 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. to Graduate Commons to stand up for science, because protecting scientific research which includes marginalized researchers and students in higher education is important to our communities.
A recent guest opinion article called upon Rice undergraduates to offer gratitude to America and its military. How can I, as a physics researcher, have gratitude to a country that is cutting funding to fundamental scientific research and disregards scientific evidence to make policy? How can I watch federal and state directives directly harm researchers and students across the country and do nothing? What is there left to be patriotic about in America?
We cannot trust an executive branch that fails to fulfill its own promises and ignores the very laws it swore to protect. The U.S. has a history of rejecting kings, and the current president just declared himself one. As the U.S. government continues to strip federal agencies under the guise of “government efficiency,” jeopardize international allyships, dismantle scientific research and threaten marginalized people, both inside and outside of the U.S., we — citizens, students, researchers and universities alike — cannot stand by and do nothing.
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