January 24, 2008
Initially, Courtney Halligan, a first-year student at the University
of Delaware, was not opposed to attending a diversity training
session that was required of all incoming freshmen. In fact, the
18-year-old New Jersey native assumed that the experience
would be an opportunity for her to learn more about students
from different backgrounds.
It didn’t take long for Halligan to change her mind
In one-on-one and group sessions conducted in the dormitories
by resident assistants, Halligan and dozens of other White
students complained that they were made to feel like racists. She
adds that they were blamed for the legacy of racism that Blacks
and other minority groups have endured through the years.
“I was personally offended,” says Halligan, who is majoring in
communications. “I was angered when a document was used in
the training that stated that ‘all people of European descent are
racist.’ When I attempted to express my opinion against such
statements, I was silenced.”
In response to complaints by students like Halligan, and pressure
from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a
Philadelphia-based civil liberties advocacy group that monitors
freedom of speech issues on campuses across the country, the
university decided last semester to suspend the controversial
program.
“Our concern was not the substance of the program but the way
that it was administered,” says Samantha Harris, director of legal
and public advocacy for FIRE. “It crossed the line from education
to indoctrination.”
Please also see ......
Most Diversity Training Ineffective, Study Finds
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