The ominous threat of surging DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) powers on college campuses was again evident last month when campus security officers barged into a law classroom at Ohio Northern University and escorted Professor Scott Gerber to the dean’s office with armed police following down the hall. The professor was immediately barred from teaching, banished from campus, and told to sign a separation agreement within one week or Ohio Northern University would begin dismissal proceedings against him.

What did he do?

His crime? Murder? Rape? No! But his misdeeds did come down to one benign word: collegiality. (One might assume that lack of collegiality was implied, but apparently no details were supplied to the professor.)

Nonetheless, Professor Gerber had a good idea why he was selected for discipline. As he explained in an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, he had “objected publicly as vice chairman of the University Council, an elected faculty governance body, and in newspaper op-eds and on television, to DEI efforts that don’t include viewpoint diversity and would lead to illegal discrimination in employment and admissions.”

Diversity of opinion is lacking on campuses

If you’ve read my most recent post (see it here), you will recall I have similar criticisms concerning the lack of diversity of opinion and obvious discrimination in campus DEI machinations.

From every indication, Professor Gerber is an outstanding teacher and a prolific scholar (one of the world’s most prestigious university presses is publishing his 10th book this summer). I submit that this case is a classic example of the ominous threat of surging DEI administrators on college campuses. Diversity of opinion is not tolerated. Rather “Group Think” is the goal.

Kafka’s The Trial

In his op-ed piece, Professor Gerber mentioned Kafka’s The Trial, the story about Josef K, a man who was arrested, prosecuted, and killed by inaccessible authority even though the nature of his crime was never revealed to him, or to the reader.

“I’m Joseph K,” said Professor Gerber. I think he has a point. His treatment is a worrisome development, one that I believe should meet increasing resistance.

FYI: A more detailed study of this troubling incident, with added historical details can be found here.