WLU Black Student Union, Pride Club react to DEI changes
West Liberty University student groups react to their administration’s decision to remove diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives from its website.
WEST LIBERTY – On Jan. 31, West Liberty University administrators confirmed to Wheeling Free Press that web pages regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts were removed from their website. Now, student groups at the university are expressing their concerns.
On his second day in office, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed an executive order banning the funding of DEI programs at state agencies and other entities receiving state funding. While his broad order has garnered threats of legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, state universities began conforming to the governor’s action.
West Virginia University dissolved their Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Marshall University removed web pages related to DEI, and West Virginia State University stated it was reviewing their DEI policies. West Liberty University, a small public university in Ohio County, West Virginia followed suit and removed mentions of DEI from their website.
The university, in a statement to Wheeling Free Press, said the reason for these changes were “to comply with Gov. Morrisey’s directives” and in anticipation of an “upcoming website redesign.” Administrators said it would take time for their university to “determine the full scope of the [governor’s] Executive Order,” but believe they are “in compliance with the DEI order since we do not have programs that provide preferential treatment for specific populations.”
The Black Student Union on West Liberty’s campus said the removal of DEI initiatives affects all marginalized groups, including veterans, the LBGTQ+ community, first generation students and other students. “Marginalized groups are not the only ones that benefit from DEI,” the BSU statement read. “Those outside of these groups can gain more awareness and empathy for what marginalized groups face every day in this country.”
Attacks on DEI initiatives often target Black people specifically.
“When it comes to the Black community, the removal of DEI programs makes one thing very clear; Black people will always be a target of oppression,” the WLU Black Student Union wrote. “From slavery to Jim Crow laws to even modern day slavery in prison, Black people have always had to fight systems set in place to get the same opportunities as White people.”
Representatives from the WLU Black Student Union said DEI related programs ensure equality becomes reality. Ending their statement, the BSU quoted Malclom X who said, “I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.”
The university’s Pride Club, committed to making West Liberty University an inclusive and supportive environment for all students, including lesbian, gay bisexual, trans and queer students, as well as the community’s allies, said they were disheartened by the move.
“We find it disheartening at the very best, and a move of absolute cowardice at worst,” the Pride Club said in a statement to Wheeling Free Press regarding their university’s removal of DEI initiatives from its website. They say the university has always been accepting of marginalized groups, but the move “shows that whenever push comes to shove, they simply fall over.”
“DEI initiatives do absolutely no harm to anyone involved,” the Pride Club wrote. “It protects people of color, people apart [sic] of the LGBT+, people with disabilities, people who practice varying regions, and women from being discriminated against based on the previous characteristics.”
The Pride Club says no group not mentioned in their statement is harmed by DEI policies as they are not “under any threat” and “are able to access any opportunity with or without DEI.” The group said this move shows the “higher-ups seem to only care about one demographic” and that diversity inspires “new ideas” and “perspectives” that improve campus life.
Morrisey has celebrated the removal of DEI initiatives at state colleges and universities in the wake of his executive order.
In a video statement published to the governor’s Twitter account, Morrisey said the state needed to “eradicate the woke virus” in West Virginia schools. “I’m a believer…that god looks at us, the rule of law looks at us, as equals,” Morrisey said in the post. “We don’t want special preferences unlawfully benefitting one group over another –race, color, age, ethnicity. We have to make sure that we’re taking steps to treat everyone the same under the law.”
On his personal account, Morrisey, quote-tweeting the story from this reporter regarding West Liberty University’s removal of DEI initiatives from their website, wrote, “More progress against DEI in West Virginia. And we aren’t done yet!”