Mandatory diversity. What could possibly go wrong?

Susan Kruth of The FIRE reports.

Cornell Conditions Student Group Funding on ‘Diversity and Inclusion Plan’

Cornell University’s Student Assembly (SA) has passed a resolution calling for scores of student organizations to demonstrate a plan to enlist membership that is demographically similar to the rest of the student body. According to Campus Reform, groups that do not submit a “Diversity and Inclusion Plan” will not be eligible for funding from Cornell’s Student Assembly Finance Commission (SAFC), which funds registered student groups on campus using mandatory student activity fees.

SA President Ulysses Smith cited recent “bias incidents” as a motivation for the change. “A lot of people felt like they weren’t welcome on campus,” he said. But critics of the resolution argue that it burdens certain groups to promote physical diversity with no consideration of other kinds of diversity, such as political or ideological diversity.

Campus Reform reported last week:

The groups specifically listed on the United Student Body resolution, an updated version of which was obtained by Campus Reform, are racial and ethnic organizations, gay and lesbian organizations, and religious organizations.

The resolution stresses the importance of “making sure the demographic makeup of the student organization reflects the diversity of the student body.”

SA passed a similar resolution last academic year and required approximately 50 groups to submit their diversity plans at that time.

So what exactly does a student organization have to do to receive funding? According to a draft of SA’s “Student Life Diversity and Inclusion Plan” (.doc) from last spring, still available on the Cornell website, each organization’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan will include three of SA’s suggested “Annual Initiatives.”