Sen. JD Vance sends scathing letter to Ohio State demanding action against DEI initiatives

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) published to social media an open letter to the incoming president of Ohio State University, urging the new administrator to abandon “diversity, equity and inclusion” mandates.

Vance, an alum of Ohio State, accused the school of using racial justice rhetoric to mask “racial hatred” in its hiring of personnel and curricula. 

“Today I wrote to the leadership of Ohio State, a university I love, to ask about the troubling rise of racial prejudice on campus,” Vance said of the letter on social media. “If universities keep pushing racial hatred, euphemistically called DEI, we need to look at their funding.”

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“I write to express frustration with the culture at my alma mater, The Ohio State University, and to understand how that culture might change once you become its president,” the senator’s letter reads. “In particular, I am concerned about recent news reports that considerations related to ‘diversity equity, and inclusion’ have been infused into the university’s hiring practices and curricula.”

Vance cited an analysis of Ohio State public records published in the Wall Street Journal that found diversity considerations a key factor in university employment at the College of Arts and Sciences. 

Vance claims to have previously been in contact with administrators of the university, who he says assured him that emphasis on immutable characteristics such as race and sex would be removed in favor of a more standardized hiring process. 

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“However, I recently learned that the problem here may go well beyond hiring practices. Once again, a public records request has revealed that a core function of the university — this time, teaching — has been compromised in the name of DEI dogma,” Vance wrote. “It turns out that earlier this semester, Ohio State undergraduates were being asked to ‘Unpack the Invisible Knapsack’ of privilege, including ‘White Privilege,’ ’Heterosexual Privilege,’ and ‘Able-Bodied Privilege.'”

Vance pressed incoming president Walter Carter Jr. for a meeting on the continued use of DEI ideology at the school. 

Specifically, Vance is demanding clarification on whether Carter will allow discrimination based on ideological viewpoint and whether the incoming president will allow race- and identity-based lessons in undergraduate courses.

“I will direct my staff to schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience, in order to discuss these and other matters,” Vance’s letter concluded.