I’m writing yet another column about the University of Tennessee’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion because the University of Tennessee won’t respond to questions or requests about its Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
In Sept. 2015 I wrote about the office after an uproar over a series of curious “pronouns” recommended or suggested for use on campus for individuals who didn’t want to be identified by what was called the “gender binary,” which means male or female.
After a Mt. Everest-sized avalanche of national ridicule, the pronouns were dispatched to the outer darkness amid gnashing of teeth by various UT officials.
In an October column I contrasted the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s celebratory approach to the opening of a new Pride Center while “suggesting” that religiously-themed holiday parties were not inclusive.
The following is taken from the column, which references a discussion with State Rep. Martin Daniel on my Sunday afternoon radio show on WOKI-FM. Rep. Daniel has been researching the costs of UT’s diversity efforts, which are in the neighborhood of $5 million system-wide.