Arcadia U. launches racism minor to train students in ‘antiracist advocacy’

Arcadia University in Pennsylvania is now offering a Racism and Antiracism Studies minor to train students in “antiracist advocacy and action.”

The university cites its longstanding commitment to “justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion” and “efforts to combat the systems of anti-Black racism” on its webpage for the program. 

“This proposed minor in Racism and Antiracism Studies is intended to continue this important work, building upon an ever-evolving combating anti-Black racism curriculum at the University and offering students a program for more intensive study into antiracist advocacy and action,” it states. 

It also states the program is necessary given the current political climate. 

“In the United States, this endeavor is all the more important, as concerted efforts in states nationwide aim to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and initiatives, to condemn critical race theory and its focus on systemic/institutional reform, and to limit discourse on the realities of race(ism) that invariably shaped the nation and continue to impact BIPOC communities today,” the website states. 

A leader with a national conservative think tank criticized DEI-centered curricula as one-sided and dismissive of ideological diversity.

“An objective curriculum which sought to discuss racism would embrace both pro- and anti-DEI viewpoints, and encourage students to deeply understand differing perspectives and how they can decide for themselves how to view the issue,” Project 21 ambassador Phil Bell said. 

Project 21, an initiative of The National Center for Public Policy Research, exists to promote the views of African Americans whose perspectives have been widely excluded from mainstream discussions.

Bell also said that programs of this type accuse black conservatives of “being the product of institutional racism, rather than free men who think freely.”

Similarly, Heartland Institute Editorial Director Chris Talgo told The College Fix that DEI courses such as this are dangerous to higher education as a whole. 

They encourage ideological conformity amongst students, group people together on a rigid set of traits and implement “reverse” discrimination, which makes them a waste of resources. 

The Heartland Institute “believes that ideology has no place in higher education. We believe the objective of higher education is to teach students how to think, not what to think,” Talgo said.

“Most Americans should also know that U.S. college students are more unprepared for rigorous college courses than ever before. Given the fact that many college students need remedial math courses, I find it sad that precious academic time and resources are being devoted to anti-American DEI programs,” he said.

The Racism and Antiracism Studies minor is directed by Christopher Varlack, the associate director of the school’s Center for Antiracist Scholarship, Advocacy, and Action.

“This minor in Racism and Antiracism Studies is intended to continue to build upon an ever-evolving combating anti-Black racism curriculum at Arcadia and offer students a program into antiracist advocacy and action,” Varlack said, according to the program’s webpage.

The minor requires 20 credits of interdisciplinary coursework. 

To start in the program, students are required to choose one class from a list of required introductory courses such as Citizenship & the Law, Moving Beyond Allyship – Antiracist Work, Advocacy in Action, and Race, Class and Gender in Modern America. 

In Race, Class and Gender in Modern America, “special attention will be paid to competing notions, definitions, and laws regarding citizenship and exclusion based upon race, gender and class,” according to the Arcadia Undergraduate Catalog.

Students then choose three electives from a group of courses under the Perspectives on Race/Racism category. Options include Antiracist Children’s Literature, The Environmental Racism, Where Race Lives, What Race Says, and Outcasts, Rebels and Other Normal People, among others. 

In Where Race Lives, What Race Says, students will “express how [they] have been impacted by race personally and also how racialization affects different bodies differently,” according to the Arcadia Undergraduate Catalog.

Outcasts, Rebels, and Other Normal People will explore topics including identity, prejudice, rebellion, pluralism, and social reform, in addition to a review of literary works from famous historical figures. 

Finally, students will learn strategies “for antiracist advocacy” in an elective course on topics such as journalism, communication, law, or sociology.

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