Indiana Lt. Governor Attacks Diversity At a Major University

 Harry Targ

 

 The Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith posted on July 30 the following as part of his ideological and religious fundamentalist  critique of Purdue University:

“Received this from a potential Purdue University parent after their tour of the campus. Why are state schools in Indiana the worst?? Do yourself a favor, send your kids to Hillsdale College where woke indoctrination won’t happen. “Just got done with my kids Purdue tour. They made a point to include the cultural clubs “including the award winning LGBTQ club” in the main video. Then on tour had to point out their diversity tree. Then one of the Muslim guides made sure to proudly mention that she was part of the MSA Muslim student org. Had to explain to my kid that’s the org that caused all of the violence and hate on campuses everywhere. I hate colleges altogether I think.” https://www.reddit.com/r/Purdue/comments/1vb0w2x/lt_governor_beckwith_attacks_purdue_today/

What the Lt. Governor Does Not Know About Purdue University History

Purdue University is a Big Ten university, a land grant institution and one of two large and well-known public universities in the state of Indiana (there are several public and private universities in the state). It has been known historically for strong programs in agriculture and engineering.  To its credit and largely because of the nationwide ferment in the 1960s the university committed itself to create vibrant programs in other disciplines, many in the College of Liberal Arts.

Among the many programs developed over the last fifty years, many of which were destroyed by the current executive and legislative branches in Indiana, included a nationally recognized graduate program in American Studies, important programs, both undergraduate and graduate in African American and Gender and Women’s Studies, and programs of excellence in research and teaching in English, History, Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy, Communications, and Psychology, just to name a few. And even students who came to study engineering, computer science, agriculture, or business appreciated and enrolled in the many liberal arts courses mentioned above. And, of course, every administration and faculty from the 1960s til quite recently recognized the inextricable connection between STEM related fields of specialization and a broad liberal arts education.

In addition, administrators, faculty, and students recognized that the history of the nation, the state, and even the university and its community had inadequately served minorities. And it was the job to make higher education accessible to students who historically had been denied such education because of their race, ethnicity, or gender. Former Purdue President Mitch Daniels said it well in a ceremony renaming residence halls to African American students of the 1940s who had been denied access to housing:

 “Purdue University and its land grant sisters around the country were put here more than a century ago to start lowering and removing barriers and promote the upward mobility of free peoples and that has been our history ever since,” Daniels said. “We’ve been too slow about it in many ways and many times, but the progress has always been forward. Sometimes, it takes courageous and resolved people, like the Parker sisters, to push things further – and thank God they did.”

 https://www.purdue.edu/vpsl/news/perspectives-stories/fall-2021/parker-halls-monument-to-sisters.php