James July-August 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 61
arrests. I told the presidents that these
students didn’t fear arrests since they
don’t lead to anything in many of our
prosecutions today. But they do fear
suspension, and that’s what we empowered our presidents to do.”
He noted there was only one
episode at the University of Georgia
where President Jere Moorhead had
his administrators pleading with students to limit their First Amendment
rights to lawful protest. When they
didn’t, they were arrested, suspended
and still could be dealt with administratively. (Sixteen were arrested at
UGA and 10 were students.)
The chancellor believes a university is a formative time, and maybe the
first time away from home for many
students. In this context, he hopes “we
are teaching students to understand
and respect the differences people
may have.” One way is through debating issues of the day. Perdue credits
Regents Chairman Harold Reynolds
and Regent Erin Hames for seeking to
emulate a Regents Cup debate program in Arizona. The USG plan is to
have Regents Cup debate teams on
all campuses where young people are
trained how to articulate their views
without resorting to violence.
College tuition, affordability and DEI
Another big issue is that college
tuition and affordability are top of mind
for students and parents everywhere.
That’s why I asked how USG provides
an affordable, high-quality education.
The chancellor emphasized that one
of the main doctrines of the system
is affordability. “As we see prices rise
all around us, we talk about value,” he
said. “And when you look at all our campuses there’s great value. That’s the
nexus between quality and cost. With
two flagship schools in the top 20 USN
& WR rankings, the value is there.”
This year is only the third time in
nine years that tuition has been raised
by the Regents. “We couldn’t overcome
inflationary pressures during the last
three years— especially involving labor,
food, housing and other costs,” Perdue
explains. “We didn’t want to diminish
our quality when it comes to providing
services. I feel like the tuition increase
was understood by most people even
though no one likes to see it.”
Our conversation then pivoted to a
discussion about DEI (Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion) programs. Proponents
say “equity” means equal outcomes.
Critics note the consequences of
outcome-based “equity” requires
that some people are treated “more
equal” than others in education. In this
context, I asked about media reports
that USG is instructing its colleges and
universities to dismantle expensive
and divisive DEI programs.
The chancellor responded by saying faculties value academic freedom.
“But what we found,” he said, “was
that we had employment and application statements requiring applicants
to subscribe to certain values antithetical to academic freedom. Our whole
mantra is that we want everyone to
feel included on a campus. You don’t
do that with tribalism and by dividing
people based on race, gender, nationality or any other designation. We want
a campus experience to be one of
wholistic interaction where students
can learn from one another. We want
to be all inclusive.”
Perdue also mused about socalled campus “safe spaces” for
students that have emerged in some
places. “In response, I asked my
presidents ‘can you show us unsafe
spaces’ on your campus? Because my
expectation is that all space must be
safe. And if you talk about “diversity,”
he says there is almost no diversity
of viewpoints that has occurred in all
too many areas. “What we want is a
diversity of viewpoints.”
He further praises our national
motto: E Pluribus Unum— “Out of
many, one.” “That’s the strength of the
United States and on our campuses as
well. Out of all our backgrounds, we
become one. Everyone ought to have
the same pride about their school and
their campus experience.”
“And we are reallocating some of
that (DEI) money toward student success,” he concluded.
Phil Kent is the CEO and publisher of James.
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