When I read that President Martha Pollack joined 14 other College and University presidents to advance civic preparedness across the country as part of a consortium convened by The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, I thought that she had succumbed to the demands of the white, male, racist, homophobic, transphobic hate speech lovers. But I’m not worried. I looked at the website of The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and it clear that the Institute’s values DO NOT include free expression, and they DO include Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Also when I found the Institute’s history page, I saw that The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has no problem canceling a racist president like Woodrow Wilson. The Institute used to be the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, but in 2020, the year of our nation’s racial reckoning, they changed their name to The Institute for Citizens & Scholars.

So I am not worried that the consortium of fifteen presidents convened by The Institute for Citizens & Scholars will prioritize free speech over DEIB.