College Diversity Politics and American Higher Education: An Institutional Analysis

In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC, this paper reexamines the politics of diversity and affirmative action. Exploring legal constructions and three core dimensions of diversity—structural, interactional, and viewpoint—the study identifies three perverse outcomes of the prevailing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) paradigm in American higher education. These include suppression of viewpoint diversity, feelings of reverse victimization due to antagonistic framings of identity, and suboptimal cognitive outcomes for minorities. Next, the paper analyzes interview and observational data from a faith-based Texas university to closely examine the process of college diversity policymaking. The main finding is that risk-averse college administrators succumb to the omnipresence of DEI as an institutional norm, even when they prefer to balance organizational mission and laws in devising diversity policy. An additional analysis of online diversity content from four strategically selected universities in Texas reveals specific discursive markers that perpetuate ideological DEI norms.