7. USD Changes Its Official University Values
At some point over the past few days, USD posted a new statement of university values on its website. Yet important questions remain unanswered, and the causes for concern are still there.
USD has changed its official university values. Up until a few days ago, USD’s online statement of values read as follows: “The University of South Dakota is committed to becoming a regional leader in diversity and inclusiveness initiatives and the practice of Inclusive Excellence.” And that was it—according to its website, these were the only official values of South Dakota’s flagship liberal arts institution. But at some point on or near Sunday, February 14, 2021, USD made significant changes to its official values statement. Transparency, integrity, and good stewardship were added as USD values.[1] The University also now describes its values of diversity and inclusiveness in different language. According to USD’s website: “We embrace diversity as one of our strengths and strive to make inclusive excellence a reality. We are proud of the inclusive, equitable, and caring culture we continue to create. People feel welcome here.” In addition, USD has taken down its “Inclusive Excellence Vision Statement” webpage, on which it had promised to make inclusiveness “omnipresent” at USD and to “embed… social justice and equity… into the heart and soul of the institution.”
What do these changes to USD’s official values statement mean? We hope that they are the first step in a new direction for USD. If the University’s revised values statement signals that USD is willing to begin distancing itself from the Social Justice crusade that Woki-Leaks has been chronicling, and is embracing a broader set of values, then that is to be welcomed.
However, USD’s new values statement also leaves many important questions unanswered – and many reasons for concern in place. As we have explained in previous articles, activists have used USD’s values of diversity, inclusiveness, inclusive excellence, and equity as cover for pushing a radical political agenda that involves equalizing resources across identity groups and compelling people to pursue Social Justice causes. Each of these values remains in USD’s new statement in some form. Does this mean that the University will allow the Social Justice crusade to carry on behind the scenes at USD? Or, will USD honor its new stated value of fostering a “welcoming… caring culture” by no longer trying to indoctrinate students or divide them up according to their relative “privilege” or “oppression” status? Will USD be changing its discriminatory hiring and promotion policies that punish moderates and conservatives and reward Woke activism? Will it be doing something to rein in the University’s powerful, extensive, and growing network of “diversity and inclusiveness” activist organizations?
It is vital that USD work towards a clear public position on such questions. USD should draw a clear line between its official values and the divisive worldview of Woke ideology. The University could do so relatively easily. It could reaffirm its commitment to tolerance, openness, the pursuit of truth, and to other principles that unite us as humans. These are the values that deserve official endorsement anyway.
Another aspect of USD’s new values statement gives cause for concern as well. The new statement makes a number of claims like the following: USD is “transparent;” its “identity” is “authentic, clear, and understood by all our stakeholders;” and, “People feel welcome here.” We understand that all organizations engage in brand management. However, evidence presented on this website contradicts USD’s new claims. USD’s identity is neither clear nor understood by all stakeholders at this point in time. Will USD be able to address these sorts of problems if it is making statements that effectively deny their existence?
It is troubling as well that the University seems to feel it has both the ability, and the right, to speak for whomever it chooses. How does USD know that “all” its stakeholders understand it and that “people” feel welcome on campus? These sorts of bold claims are symptomatic of some of the deeper problems afflicting USD and other universities, which include a lack of respect for personal and other boundaries, severe administrative overreach, and the replacement of open dialogue with administrative monologue. These are some of the very same problems that are fueling universities’ drift into the soft totalitarianism of Wokeness. It is time we return our universities to their proper sphere of action and influence.
Ultimately, then, the meaning of USD’s new values statement is unclear. The values statement does not clearly indicate whether there will be more or less Woke indoctrination and policing at USD going forward. Only USD’s future actions can clarify what its new values statement really means.
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