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Fourth Estate

BY VIVIANA SMITH, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Oct. 22, Mason student leaders, alongside the student body representatives of nine public universities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, signed and sent a letter to Gov. Glenn Youngkin regarding “the longevity of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion [DEI] programs at our public institutions.” According to the letter, the 10 student leaders represent a collective of 180,000 students across the Commonwealth. 

The letter follows developing conversations regarding DEI in higher education and policies enacted by Youngkin, including Executive Order 1, which stops the use of “inherently divisive concepts” in K-12 public schools. 

According to Secretary of Public Relations for the Cuesta-McAulay Administration Jackson McAfee, the letter aims to express the necessity of DEI programs within higher education and the importance of having students’ voices in conversations surrounding their curriculum. 

“Despite divisive rhetoric about DEI, students from Fairfax to Charlottesville, from Harrisonburg to Richmond, and from Norfolk to Blacksburg, students stand united in their support for these programs,” McAfee said. “This letter represents a collective voice of the student communities of major Virginia Public Universities…a collective voice that believes state education policy can not be adequately developed without the input and consideration of student experiences.” 

The coalition, kick-started by Student Body President Maria Cuesta, Secretary of Government & Community Relations for the Cuesta-McAulay Administration Liam Keene and McAfee, is comprised of student leaders from James Madison University, Longwood University, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Tech University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, Norfolk State University, College of William & Mary and Christopher Newport University.

“Each student body president’s motivations for signing are unique,” McAfee said. “This coalition gave many of us the chance to hear from other student communities and form a mutual understanding that unity amongst our universities was the way we get heard.”

The coalition was sparked by growing concerns for the future of DEI, including the rejection of various programs suggested by Virginia universities. “Just Societies and VCU had racial literacy courses. VCU’s Board voted to reject this curriculum. Mason’s Board halted instituting those courses despite students and faculty supporting it using rhetoric about completely removing DEI principles from classrooms ‘root to branch’.”

During a BOV session in Spring 2024, people in the gallery, including students, faculty and staff expressed their defense of the maintenance of DEI within Mason’s curriculum, while multiple visitors disagreed, advocating for its removal. 

In a 2023 report by The Heritage Foundation, DEI staff are claimed to be “wasteful, associated with worse campus climates, and are found at universities that promote radical ideologies.” In September 2023, President Gregory Washington responded by stating the report was “problematic” and contained inaccurate information. “Unfortunately this report – sloppy, methodologically questionable, and simply inaccurate as it is – not only falls short of something we can take seriously, it does damage to our capacity to have such a serious conversation…This university deserves better.”

McAfee emphasized that the intention of the letter is not to discuss morals but rather to open discussion between government officials and the collective student body of multiple public universities regarding the future of DEI.

 “This is a request for a reorientation,” McAfee said. “If we want to get back to placing student’s well-being and academic success at the center of education policy discussions, students have got to be there and they’ve got to have an audience willing to listen.”

“We know that for many, these programs are a large part of their everyday student experience…The benefits of DEI offices are clear and the impact they have on us every day is real, and politically appointed officials do not get to make that any less of a fact,” McAfee said. “We hope that the governor is enlightened from this collective effort and will meet with us to discuss our student experiences and center those in his education policy.”