University of South Carolina Requires Students to Affirm Value of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’

The University of South Carolina required students to affirm the value of “diversity and inclusion” as part of a mandatory training this summer, underscoring the tenacity of diversity programs in the face of public blowback and raising concerns about compelled speech at a school that has marketed itself as a bastion of free expression.

In a module on “Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging,” which included 10 multiple choice questions, the training asked students how “diversity and inclusion help create a healthy, positive campus environment.” Students who said these values do not create such an environment—or that they give “unfair advantages” to “people from marginalized identity groups”—were told that their answers were “incorrect,” according to screenshots shared with the Washington Free Beacon by the First Amendment watchdog Speech First.

The right answer was that “diversity and inclusion exposes students to people from different backgrounds, thus enriching the overall campus experience.”

Though students could complete the module without answering every question correctly, they needed at least an 80 percent—on a quiz with just 10 questions—to pass the training and register for classes, according to the screenshots.

Cherise Trump, the executive director of Speech First, said the requirement was “a blatant attempt at coercive brainwashing.”

“Students here are clearly expected to maintain a certain viewpoint designated by the state school or else they risk losing access to courses,” Trump told the Free Beacon. “Online modules like the one at University of South Carolina clearly work against the spirit of the First Amendment.”

Reached for comment about Trump’s concerns, a university spokesman, Jeffrey Stensland, claimed the diversity module was “optional, not mandatory,” and that students only needed to complete units on alcohol and sexual assault. But an online portal for USC’s 35,000 students says otherwise, indicating the diversity unit is “required” for all undergraduates.

USC also warned students in emails that “registration holds will take effect if you do not complete” the module, which was offered through an outside vendor, Vector Solutions, and includes lessons on “allyship,” “privilege,” and “cultural appropriation.”

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Under pressure from state lawmakers, USC last year renamed its top diversity office to avoid the terms “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion.” With tensions rising over the Oct. 7 attacks, it also promised in a press release to “strengthen its free speech expression policies” and promote “a variety of opinions and ideas”—commitments that earned the university a top rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in June of this year.

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Another question asks what students should do if they “have a great idea for a costume” but are “concerned about cultural appropriation.” Dismissing the concerns as “not that serious”—even if nobody from the relevant culture will be at the party—is “incorrect,” according to the training. Instead, students should “educate” themselves through online research to determine whether the costume is acceptable.

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Universities across the country have required similar trainings. A Title IX training at Boston University forced faculty to affirm, via a multiple choice quiz, that people “rarely” make false accusations of sexual assault, while a Title IX training at Harvard told students that “using the wrong pronouns” can constitute “abuse.”

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