DEI
Thinking of applying to teach at Virginia Commonwealth University? They have a little requirement.
Statement of Contribution to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to organizational diversity, equity and inclusion – an environment where all can thrive in their pursuit of excellence. Applicants are requested to submit a Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion providing your career aspirations and contributions toward promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
I like the way they say it three times in that one short paragraph, just in case you lost track of what they’re “requesting.”
“Applicants are requested” is a bit different than other types of requests. It’s not like a “requested museum donation.” “Applicants are requested” is an outright threat: toe the line or you won’t have a chance here.
What a load of boilerplate platitudes.
“My contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion have been very equitable, diverse, and inclusive because equality, diversification, and inclusivity have always been very important to me, in a very divergent and equal sense in which much has been included.”
In a meeting yesterday, I learned we have a “sex and gender” committee in our Faculty Senate, and that they have persuaded the administration to include a “sex and gender” in-service in the fall. Why do I suspect it will be all gender and no sex? And that the intersectionality training video I must watch is going to be mostly gender?
Sastra, I love it. I think you got the job. My statement:
I have made great contributions to diversity and inclusiveness. Oh, wait, you don’t mean the kind an ecologist quite naturally makes as part of their job? Sorry, I don’t know what diversity means outside of biodiversity, so I guess I’m fucked.
This looks a lot like the University is outsourcing its (reasonable) responsibilities for diversity, equity and inclusion onto employees, who probably have enough to worry about. I’ve seen a lot of this sort of thing lately and I hate it. It seems to happen a lot to teachers.
https://provost.vcu.edu/media/provost-2018/documents/VCUGuidelinesforWritingaStatementofContributionstoDiversity-Revised9-21-2020.pdf
Okay, so this is probably silly, but why is that hyphen there? It’s not there in the document to break the word between multiple lines. Is it time for a new slogan? “Trans-formative learning is formative learning!”
Also: “impactful.” Worst neologism EVER.
Very popular in academia, I’m afraid. We’re supposed to be impactful change makers, impactful influencers, and whatever other nonsensical buzzword is the word of the day.
Good grief, whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
It’s been around long enough now (since 1939, according to MW) that impactful doesn’t even register as a neologism to most people anymore.
At least it’s better than just saying something is “a thing”.
Huh. My 1995 Concise Oxford doesn’t have it at all.
It hasn’t been in common use since 1939.
The thing about just saying something is “a thing” is that that’s slang, while “impactful” is bureaucratic jargon. The latter must be fought without cease.
Indeed, the only proper response to the proliferation of jargon is war without end. No quarter can be offered or given.
Well, you can’t get any more diverser than that.