Healthy on the Outside, DEI on the Inside

Forty years ago, it was “political correctness” and hate speech codes. Then came “social justice” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI). Now, universities promote the “health promoting campus” (HPC), which, at first glance, seems positive. But history urges caution.

The student affairs profession has been relabeling the same thing for forty years, and the HPC is nothing more than a new name for DEI. To understand that, we need to first look at the origins of the HPC concept.

HPC started with the Okanagan Charter, which came out of a 2015 conference held in Kelowna, a small town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It proposed to “Embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations, and academic mandates ” and “[t]o lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.” It went further, stating a need “an explicit stance in favour of health, equity, social justice and sustainability for all, while recognizing that the well-being of people, places and the planet are interdependent.”

The charter sought to have institutes of higher education “[a]lign with global agendas such as World Health Organization’s Cross Sector Action and Health in All Policies and United Nations’ Post-2015 Development Agenda, thus addressing social, environmental and economic determinants of health and improving equity, mental and physical well-being, social justice, respect for diversity, sustainability and food security. ”

“Diversity, equity, and social justice” are all explicitly mentioned, with “inclusion” mentioned by implication—this is nothing more than DEI under the fig leaf of “health.” But the Okanagan Charter was signed a decade ago in Canada, and we need to look at what has happened more recently in the United States.

In January 2020, the U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network (USHPCN) was formed “to facilitate, advance, and promote the adoption of the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities & Colleges for U.S. Colleges and Universities.” It appears to have been an offshoot of the National Student Personnel Association (NASPA) or organized incidentally to a NASPA conference. The record isn’t clear on this, but USHPCN appears to be an entity independent of NASPA.

[RELATED: Resistance to Trump’s Orders Sows Doubt About Reform]

The USHPCN had a conference of sorts in February 2023. I say “of sorts” because about half of it involved a junket tour of Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. Interesting cities that were central to the civil rights movement—I wouldn’t mind seeing them myself—but I’d never do it on my employer’s time and at my employer’s expense!

The keynote speech, entitled “Centering Equity: The Imperative for wellbeing in person, place, and planet,” was given by someone described as an expert in “the social causes of health [and] mental health.” Various presentations discussed how “students of marginalized identities often face structural and social barriers to wellbeing on campuses, leading to unjust inequities” and that “[s]ystems of higher education are built by, and reinforce, systems of inequity, oppression, and white supremacy.”

Again, this is all DEI, with “white supremacy” thrown in as well—nothing to do with health.

It gets worse! At their conference last October, Drs. Rebecca Kennedy and Mary Wallace, both Assistant Vice Presidents at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), gave a presentation entitled “Adhering to HPU Tenets During a Time of Political Shifts.” Alabama Act 2024-34 bans DEI at state universities such as UAB, and the act had taken effect just 14 days before this conference.

In spite of this, the description of their presentation reads:

Diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and indigeneity are critical elements of health promoting universities, including in states with laws that limit the work of an institution of higher education. It will be critical to navigate with care because the importance of these concepts are not diminished because of the shifts in states. An ethic of care for students is critical, especially at an HPU whose tenets and aspirations include the work of justice.”

They’re just renaming DEI and continuing to do as they damn well please. Such insubordination does not surprise me; I’ve been on the edges of the student affairs profession for over forty years, but this was before the 2024 election and President Trump’s Executive Order tying DEI to a loss of federal funding.

Massachusetts is one such state that should lose federal funding. The fig leaf of “health” is barely even attempted by UMass Amherst, for example,  openly includes DEI as one of its four “pillars of wellbeing,” directly tying social justice to health. It’s not only openly practicing DEI but nonchalantly calling it such. Why is it getting away with this?

The following colleges and universities are members of the U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network, and it would be interesting to see how many of them are also continuing to practice DEI under this fig leaf of concealment:

American University
Amherst College
Appalachian State University
Arizona State University
Auburn University
Austin College
Babson College
Ball State University
Barnard College
Bates College
Bennington College
Berea College
Binghamton University
Boise State University
Bowdoin College
Bowie State University
Brandeis University
Bridgewater State University
Brigham Young University
Bryn Mawr College
Buffalo State University
Butler University
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Sacramento
California State University, San Marcos
Cape Cod Community College
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western University
Central College
Central Washington University
Cerritos College
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Clark University
Clemson University
Cleveland State University
Coastal Carolina University
College of Charleston
College of New Jersey
College of the Holy Cross
Colleges of the Fenway
Colorado College
Colorado State University
Columbia University
Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC)
Cornell College
Cornell University
Creighton University
D’Youville University
Dallas College
Delta College
Denison University
Doane University
Drexel University
East Carolina University
East Tennessee State University
Eastern Michigan University
Elon University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Emerson College
Emory University
Fairfield University
Fisher College
Florida International University
Fort Lewis College
Furman University
Gadsden State Community College
George Mason University
Georgetown University
Georgia Tech
Gettysburg College
Goshen College
Grand Valley State University
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Harper College
Hartwick College
Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech)
Illinois State University
Indiana University
International Institute for Restorative Practices
Iowa State University
Jacksonville State University
James Madison University
Johns Hopkins University
Kansas State University
Kent State University
Knox College
Lake Washington Institute of Technology
Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY)
LeMoyne College
Los Rios Community College District
Louisiana State University
Loyola University Maryland
Macalester University
Maria College of Albany
Marquette University
Marshall B. Ketchum University
Marshall University
Maryville University
Marywood University
Massachusetts Bay Community College
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina
Mercyhurst University
Merrimack College
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Minerva University
Mississippi State University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri Western State University
Montclair State University
Moravian University
Mount Holyoke College
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Central University
North Dakota State University
North Iowa Area Community College
North Seattle College
Northern Arizona University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Kentucky University
Northern Michigan University
Northwest Missouri State University
Oakland University
Oberlin University
Occidental College
Odessa College
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Oklahoma State University
Old Dominion University
Oregon State University
Otterbein University
Pace University
Pacific Lutheran University
Pacific University
Pennsylvania State University/University Park
Portland State University
Pratt Institute
Princeton University
Purdue University Fort Wayne
Quinnipiac University
Radford University
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhodes College
Rider University
Robert Morris University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rosalind Franklin University
Rowan University
Russell Sage College
Rutgers University
Rutgers University-Newark
Sacred Heart University
Salem Academy and College
Salem State University
Sam Houston State University
San Jose State University
Sarah Lawrence College
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Seattle University
Siena College
Simmons University
Skagit Valley College
Skidmore College
South Dakota State University
Southern Arkansas University
Springfield College
St. Bonaventure University
St. Cloud State University
St. Mary’s University
State University of New York, Albany
State University of New York, Brockport
State University of New York, Cortland
State University of New York, Geneseo
State University of New York, Jamestown Community College
Stetson University
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY College at Delhi
SUNY Oneonta
SUNY Oswego
SUNY Purchase College
Swarthmore College
Syracuse University
Temple University
Texas A&M Agrilife, College Station
Texas A&M Agrilife, El Paso
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Texas State University
Texas Tech University
The Claremont Colleges
The Ohio State University
The University of Arizona
Towson University
Trinity University
Tufts University
Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC) – Mexico.
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Arkansas
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Merced
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, UCOP
University of Central Missouri
University of Chicago
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Colorado Denver
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
University of Connecticut
University of Delaware
University of Denver
University of Detroit Mercy
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Hawaii at Hilo
University of Hawaii Maui College
University of Houston
University of Houston Downtown
University of Idaho
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Illinois, Springfield
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Louisiana Monroe
University of Maine
University of Maryland
University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of Maryland College Park
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts-Lowell
University of Michigan
University of Michigan-Dearborn
University of Michigan-Flint
University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Mississippi
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Montana
University of Nevada Reno
University of New Hampshire
University of North Alabama
University of North Carolina Charlotte
University of North Carolina Wilmington
University of North Dakota
University of North Florida
University of North Texas
University of Northern Colorado
University of Northern Iowa
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Portland
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
University of San Diego
University of San Francisco
University of South Carolina
University of Southern California
University of Southern Maine
University of Southern Mississippi
University of St. Thomas
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
University of the Pacific
University of Toronto
University of Tulsa
University of Vermont, Honors College
University of Victoria – Canada
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Washington-Seattle
University of West Georgia
University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Wisconsin-Superior
Ursinus College
Vanderbilt University
Villanova University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest University
Washington State University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wayne State University
Weber State University
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Western Michigan University
Western Washington University
Westminster College
Whitman College
Whittier College
Whitworth University
Wichita State University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Xavier University


Image: “Umass Amherst Chapel & Library in the evening” by Rhobite on Wikimedia Commons | UMass Amherst is one of many universities in the U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network

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4 thoughts on “Healthy on the Outside, DEI on the Inside

  1. So, you don’t have any idea of what DEI *actually* is.

    You just used a lot of words to say, “I wish I could go back to the time when being an asshole to people who were different than me was accepted.”

    1. I’d say it’s the writers at Minding the Campus who truly get what DEI is. The left, whether on purpose or not, paints it as some noble fix for perceived wrongs, but it’s really a divisive, soul-crushing policy that spits on merit. It judges students and faculty by race—not their character, and definitely not their ideas, unless those ideas bow to whatever the left says is acceptable at the time.

    2. “So, you don’t have any idea of what DEI *actually* is.”

      Thank you for confirming that this is DEI.

      “You just used a lot of words to say, “I wish I could go back to the time when being an asshole to people who were different than me was accepted.”

      No, I “used a lot of words” to send up a flare and to warn people that the “Health Promoting Campus”, which sounds good, is nothing more than DEI renamed — something which you just confirmed.

      And can we agree that “being an asshole to people who [are] different” is something which ought not be acceptable? Or as Chief Justice Roberts wrote 18 years ago, “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”?

      As a student, university employee, and then employee of the local municipality, I spent 22 years at the purgatorial cesspool known as UMass Amherst. I was officially hated — officially hated — because of my race, sex, and sexual orientation. Please note that I am not saying what they are, my point is that it is wrong to hate someone on the basis of race, sex or sexual orientation — REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT MAY BE…

      Now if you want to hate me for taping the salaries to the student union or putting a Christmas tree in front of the admin building — fine. (And I actually did those things…)

      Bull Connor is usually used as an example of Jim Crow racism — but I argue that the man didn’t know any better. While he did have a high school diploma, he was a football hero which meant that the cheerleaders did his homework for him so he could play, and none of his teachers wanted to be the reason he couldn’t play. That’s how it was in small town America a century ago. He was the son of a railroad telegraph operator — for him, going to college would be like going to the moon.

      Now contrast that to the DEI leader of today, who inevitably has a college degree and usually advanced degrees. Who (unlike Connor) has been taught, since childhood, that prejudice is bad, etc. And then becomes every much a bigot as Connor was. I consider such persons worse because they have the benefit of the education that Connor didn’t, and that they are a product of a more enlightened age.

    3. On the contrary, many of us have endured and experienced what DEI is- a left wing buzzword concept designed to masquerade a repressive, Neostalinist, attack on a free and just society based on threat or actual use of violence, fraud, racial antisemitic hatre, and chromosome denial.

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