Virginia Community College System, at behest of Trump, Miyares, kills DEI initiatives

The Virginia Community College System is bending the knee to Donald Trump and Attorney General Jason Miyares on DEI.

The VCCS State Board voted unanimously on Thursday to pass a resolution to affirm “compliance with recent guidance on discrimination and merit-based opportunity,” per a press release.

Trump has taken to calling DEI initiatives “discrimination,” echoing Orwell’s 1984, and Miyares, as AG, is acting as the Virginia hatchet man on making “merit-based opportunity” mean “stop helping students of color.”

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ICYMI

• Virginia Tech alumni fight back against anti-DEI measures ahead of BOV vote
• AAUP urges UVA to ‘immediately reverse course’ on move to kill DEI programs
• VMI superintendent addresses BOV ouster: ‘Bias, emotion and ideology’ factored into vote
• Education lawyer calls Trump’s order to remove DEI ‘regulation by intimidation’
• Kaine advises local school systems under fire from Trump to be prepared to fight in court

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“The adoption of this resolution by the State Board for Community Colleges does not change our values,” said Terri Thompson, the VCCS State Board chair and Ralph Northam appointee, though obviously, it does.

“Our mission ‘to give everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills so lives and communities are strengthened’ will always be at the heart of everything we do. I am confident the chancellor and all 23 presidents will continue to comply with all federal and state laws and foster a culture of care and success for all students,” Thompson said.

That all sounds well and good, but doesn’t mesh with the board’s action to eliminate two items from the six-year VCCS strategic plan – the first calling for the system to “increase annual application yield for Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students to 66% by 2030,” the second setting the goal of increasing the number of “diverse full-time faculty and staff” by 5 percent by 2030.

Kinda makes this mealy-mouthed statement from Dr. David Doré, the VCCS chancellor, ring hollow.

“Diversity in all its forms, respect, and inclusivity are core values of Virginia’s Community Colleges and are honored through a unified culture of care, opportunity, and success for our students and employees,” said Doré, who was named to the chancellor job in 2023.

“Each of our colleges reflects its distinct community. And, together with their communities, our colleges contribute directly to shared success across the Commonwealth,” Doré said. “Virginia’s Community Colleges share a conviction in the power of education to improve lives, support families, and strengthen communities. We will continue to be laser-focused on our students and their success. Our mission remains the same.”