By James A. Bacon | baconsrebellion.com

The George Mason University Board of Visitors gave economics professor Bryan Caplan the opportunity to speak at a recent board meeting. He delivered a six-minute takedown of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) that is well worth watching.

Caplan assailed DEI for its effect on free expression. DEI doctrine, which many have likened to a religion for its unfalsifiable propositions about racism, turns universities into “seminaries” expounding upon a single moral and political philosophy.

The most refreshing part of the speech was when Caplan critiqued DEI statements requiring job applicants and employees to explain how they would advance DEI goals in their teaching and community engagement.

Caplan compared the ideological commitment toward a leftist version of social justice to the notorious loyalty pledges demanded of faculty during the 1950s McCarthy-era “witch hunt.”

“To get some perspective on this question,” he said, “I looked at McCarthy era loyalty oaths to remain a professor at UC Berkeley 1950…. For example, you would swear the following: I am not a member of the Communist Party or any other organization that advocates the overthrow of the government by force or violence and I have no commitments in conflict with my responsibilities with respect to impartial scholarship and pursuit of truth. I understand that the foregoing statement is a condition of my employment.”

“A devout Leninist revolutionary could honestly swear this oath as long as he doesn’t belong to an organization that advocates the government’s overthrow,” Caplan continued. “Furthermore, he could belong to an alternative community party dedicated to establishing communism by democratic means.”

“In sharp contrast, diversity statements really do demand that you outright wholeheartedly agree with DEI,” Caplan said. “The original McCarthyism faded away long ago, but consider what would have happened if McCarthyites had managed to create offices of Patriotism, Prosperity and the People … staffed by scores or even hundreds of patriotism officers. I submit we would still probably have McCarthyism today.”

Good for Caplan. And kudos to the GMU Board of Visitors for allowing him to speak.

At the University of Virginia, where everyone mouths platitudes about free expression and intellectual diversity, the Board of Visitors has yet to entertain a “diverse” perspective on DEI in open session. We’ll see if anyone feels as moved as Caplan to defy orthodoxy in July when Governor Youngkin has a 17-to-0 majority of his appointees on the Board.