SPECIAL | The diversity vs. meritocracy debate is back
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2024
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Correction: An earlier version of the podcast misidentifies the university called to testify at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus. It was then-president Liz Magill with the University of Pennsylvania who testified at the hearing.
The high-profile resignation of Harvard’s first Black president, Claudine Gay, has once again thrust the conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI, into the national spotlight. How do we reconcile the tension between honoring individual meritocracy and the need for systemic changes to address historical inequities? Design Observer Editor-in-Chief and DEI expert Ellen McGirt joins The Excerpt to share her perspectives on this emotionally charged issue.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wunderry Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, ad free right now. |
| 0:05.0 | Join Wunderry Plus in the Wundery app. |
| 0:08.0 | Hello and |
| 0:15.0 | this is a special episode of the excerpt. |
| 0:17.0 | Today is Thursday January 11th, 2024 and this is a special episode of the excerpt. served. |
| 0:25.0 | The high profile resignation of Harvard's first black president, Claudine Gay, |
| 0:31.0 | has once again thrust the diversity versus meritocracy debate into the national |
| 0:36.0 | spotlight. |
| 0:37.0 | Gay had assumed the office of the Harvard presidency just two days after the Supreme Court |
| 0:42.1 | overturned affirmative action last summer, ending a 50-plus-year |
| 0:46.4 | national policy aimed at improving opportunities for minority students. |
| 0:51.8 | Today, diversity, equity equity and inclusion programs or |
| 0:54.7 | DEI are currently under fire at colleges and universities across the country. |
| 1:00.7 | How do we reconcile the tension between honoring individual |
| 1:05.3 | meritocracy and the need for systemic changes to address historical |
| 1:10.3 | inequities? Joining me now to discuss the current state of DEI in higher education |
| 1:15.8 | is design observer editor-in-chief Ellen McGirt, an expert in DI in business. |
| 1:23.4 | Thanks for joining us on the excerpt, Alan. |
| 1:25.7 | Dana, thank you so much for having me and for hosting this important conversation. |
| 1:29.2 | First, let's break down briefly what brought down the former Harvard President Claudine Gay. |
| 1:35.8 | Her leadership first came under scrutiny during a December House hearing |
| 1:40.1 | about anti-Semitism on campus, but then came accusations of plagiarism that |
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