A recent report reveals that two-thirds of colleges and universities across the United States now require students to complete coursework focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in order to graduate, the New York Post reported.

The report, conducted by Speech First, an organization advocating for First Amendment rights on college campuses, surveyed both public and private institutions and found that 165 out of 248 schools mandate DEI-related classes as part of their general education requirements.

The investigation, released on Thursday, highlights a growing trend in higher education in which students are required to take courses that emphasize DEI principles. These courses are designed to address issues of racial, sexual, and political diversity; but according to the report’s executive summary, they often create a framework where students are categorized as either “oppressors” or “oppressed.”

Speech First specifically looked for courses that employed an “anti-racist” approach, which frequently involves denouncing concepts like “whiteness” or “white supremacy.” The report also identified the presence of forced “DEI Statements,” where faculty pledge to promote DEI ideology if hired.

Furthermore, the report flagged the use of terms such as “intersectionality,” “toxic masculinity,” “critical gender theory,” “ableism,” “implicit bias,” “systemic racism,” and “social justice” as indicators of DEI-focused curriculum.

According to the report, the proliferation of DEI departments on college campuses has led to an “erosion of merit-based principles” and a marginalization of conservative voices. The report also suggests that DEI courses often promote “far-left ideological perspectives and political advocacy.”

The survey included universities from various categories, such as NCAA Division I institutions, schools ranked among the best nationally by U.S. News and World Report, those with endowments exceeding $1 billion, and those in the top 100 for undergraduate enrollment nationwide.

The report identified prominent universities like Harvard, the University of North Carolina, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Princeton, as well as flagship state schools like the University of Arizona, the University of California, and the University of Colorado.

The report notes that DEI requirements are present in universities across the country, including states that have recently outlawed such practices, like Florida and Texas. Additionally, anti-DEI legislation is pending in states with varying political landscapes, including Democrat-controlled Illinois and politically divided Pennsylvania.

In response to the findings, the report suggests banning DEI and critical race theory courses and implementing free speech programs during freshman orientation. It also advocates for a renewed focus on teaching the nation’s founding principles as part of general education requirements.

Cherise Trump, executive director of Speech First, emphasized the importance of academic freedom and raised concerns about the institutional promotion of ideologies hostile to American values. She questioned the justification for taxpayer subsidies to institutions that require training in what she views as a hostile ideology.

“American universities are increasingly institutionally stacking the deck by requiring students to sit through classes that, rather than impart knowledge or build saleable skills, infuse an ideological worldview that is in many instances hostile to key tenets of the American way of life,” she said.

“Taxpayers may well wonder why they subsidize academic institutions that require training in a hostile ideology as a graduation requirement.”

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