Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology has made it harder for students to make friends with those who share similar interests but different “identities,” he writes. They’re encouraged to focus on their differences, segregate themselves and see unintentional slights as “microaggressions.”
His students tell him they find it difficult “to be open and to connect, intellectually and emotionally, with each other,” writes Abrams. Students “are constantly on guard, living under the threat of bias reporting hotlines should they deviate from the DEI tribal norms.” Firing DEI administrators would improve the campus climate, Abrams writes. “Let students connect, struggle, and learn from differences in shared spaces.”
Loneliness threatens the health of college students, warns Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on his “We Are Made to Connect” campus tour, reports Johanna Alonso on Inside Higher Education.
Like so many things, the problem started before pandemic lockdowns and has gotten worse. Some say students find it easier to keep up with old friends on social media than to make new ones.