The leftist ideology of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” continues to spread like kudzu over American higher education. Almost no college or university leader dares oppose it, lest he become a target for the “woke” mob.
Andrews University went down this road in 2017, hiring the University's first Vice President for Diversity & Inclusion. For Andrews, the result has not been the resolution of social justice grievances or increased Chriatian unity, but rather dividing Andrews staff and students into identity politics affinity groups through critical race theory. It doesn’t work. There are many reasons for a Christian college to not go down this road, especially Southern Adventist University.
For many years, Southern carved out an island of faithfulness in a sea of compromise among Adventist Universities. Lewis Walton remarked 25-years ago that if you want your child to come home Adventist (read committed to biblical truth instead of culture), Southern was the best place for them. It was true at the time.
But, cue this announcement from Southern Adventist University, last week,
Southern Adventist University is pleased to announce that Kathy Goodridge-Purnell, PhD, has joined our team as new senior advisor to the president on diversity and strategic planning. Originally from England with roots in the Caribbean, Purnell is a gifted communicator and leader, bringing decades of relevant experience to our campus. Kathy Goodrudge-Purnell“I look forward to working closely with our new team member,” said President Ken Shaw, ’80. “She brings a strong background in change management strategy and experience from several higher education institutions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Most recently she served as chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Pacific Union College in California. And she is no stranger to Southern Adventist University; she has served as an adjunct instructor in the School of Social Work.
We are in a critical historical era where Christian colleges should be focused solely on instructing our children in God’s truth and exposing the ways in which culture is at war with the Bible. But it costs something to do that, and the cost is currently measured in Twitter attacks, outrage mobs, and social media cultural Marxist ‘inquisitions.’ What is needed? Courage.
Most SDA educational institutions will rise no higher than the courage of its leaders. At the top of the SDA education dog pile is Lisa Hardy who lacked the courage in 2013-14 to discipline La Sierra for their evolutionary teachings in the biology department. That set the tone for a long list of additional compromises, each one worse than the former. Now we have Southern Adventist University hiring a diversity and inclusion officer, and those officers often are the most powerful people on the campus. They are—after all—the final word on how to be politically correct enough to avoid cancel culture, as if that is Jesus Christ’s will for the Advent Movement.
I don’t believe that the “diversity” agenda will do anything to improve Southern Adventist University or help the supposedly “marginalized” student groups. On the contrary, this is a make-work project for today’s massive campus bureaucracy and as such, it has little to do with promoting academic achievement among minority students. This is about hiring administrators who will spend their days reading statements generated by woke culture that have nothing to do with race and help no one anchor their soul in the truths of the Bible.
What Diversity & Inclusion Actually Does
Diversity & Inclusion causes our colleges and universities to graduate large numbers of students whose heads are filled with leftist notions, instead of scriptural righteousness.
Diversity & Inclusion education becomes an exercise in forcing smart people to genuflect and embrace the pseudo religious faith of wokeness. Ironically, in today’s secular world, the cult of diversity makes secular universities faith-based institutions, and makes religious universities like Southern political as they bow to the dogma of critical race theory.
Diversity & Inclusion officers encourage racism against white people while remaining insulated from their own racism. Instead of actually practicing biblical forgiveness and decency, Universities that hire diversity executives, assemble social justice word salads that make their schools sound more like Che.
Kathy Purnell
Who is she?
She was chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Pacific Union College (PUC) in California.
Kathy Purnell
According to Southern’s Yearly Handbook page 23: “Jewelry is specifically prohibited in public. “Students who wear jewelry may be fined.” It is assumed that faculty would conform to this standard regarding adornment. Perhaps they make exceptions for diversity, equity, and inclusion advisors.
While at Walden University, Purnell co-authored a paper on diversity and (of course) social justice. Here are a couple excerpts from that paper which provide insights on where she likely intends to take Southern Adventist University:
“Moreover, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion must not rest solely on the shoulders of marginalized committee members. In effective committees, every participant embraces the challenge of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation (emphasis mine).
There you go.
Goodbye white robe of righteousness, hello rainbow tunic of the LGBTQ woke mob. Goodbye biblical distinctions, hello social justice inclusion. Goodbye Acts 17:31 and Psalm 96:13; hello Romans 3:8 and 1:27.
There is one thing that sets faithful institutions apart from the enmity of a sin-loving world. Courage. If you have it, use it. Most administrators in your conference won’t.
You believe in evangelism? So do I. Stand while the world is kneeling, and truth seekers will come to you for truth.
Hang in there, help is on the way.
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