‘Baked into’ curriculum: Another Ohio university breaks the law by pushing DEI, AIM alleges
A University of Cincinnati professor apparently admitted to an undercover journalist that, despite an Ohio law prohibiting colleges and universities from teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion, she and her colleagues are still pushing the ideology on students, according to the group that released the video.
Accuracy in Media said that Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director at the Sociology Department at the University of Cincinnati, Katherine Castiello Jones, said that her department “would be an incredibly supportive place” for left-wing people who want to keep DEI on college and university campuses.
“We have a lot of critiques of some of the policy changes that have been made. We have a real commitment to supporting all of our students,” she said, referring to Senate Bill 1.
Castiello Jones also admitted that, even though DEI is no longer official university policy, people in the sociology department consider it very important and push it anyway, violating the law.
“In the Sociology Department, that is a core of our curriculum. I mean, we can’t really strip it out. It’s baked into what we talk about and what we teach,” she said.
Castiello Jones said that “in pretty much all of our classes, there is a discussion and a critical analysis” of things like “race, class, ‘gender,’ sexuality, and intersectionality.”
When confronted by Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette, in her office, Castiello Jones tried to defend her comments by saying that she and other professors at the university are not breaking the law because, instead of promoting DEI, they are just inspecting the ideology from a purely academic, theoretical, and sociological perspective since it became a part of American society.
However, in the video, Castiello Jones said the curriculum won’t change, even after the law was implemented.
“We are still teaching the same things that we’ve always taught, and we are still prioritizing those kinds of analyses,” she said.
Castiello Jones then said that, within the department, the focus of the professors is things like “urban sociology,” “race,” and “inequality” because “that’s where people’s passion is” and “that’s what they do their research in.”
“It’s a really substantial part of the program,” she said in the video.
While speaking with Guillette, she said the department has made some changes regarding DEI. However, when asked to list specific changes, Castiello Jones avoided answering, instead approaching Steve L. Carlton-Ford, another university professor, in hopes that he would help her avoid answering questions.
After stating that the university is not in violation of any laws, both professors refused to answer any questions and asked Guillette to leave the building.
“This video is proof that radicals have captured a large portion of higher education in the Buckeye State,” Guillette told Ohio.News. “If divisive, radical political ideologies are ‘baked in’ to a degree, no taxpayer should be forced to fund them. Ohio must immediately join Florida, Texas, and the growing group of states that have created accreditation that doesn’t require DEI.”
The video follows others that AIM has released at the high school and college level, including The Ohio State University and Kent State University.
