Moral Corruption at Community Colleges: DEI Harms Students Everywhere

To measure the presence of DEI offices on community college campuses, this Backgrounder presents an analysis using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and finds that 81 percent of the largest community colleges in medium or large cities or suburban areas have DEI staff or list at least one DEI program on the college’s website. [...] Eight percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are enrolled in community colleges, down from 13 percent in 2010.8 Junior colleges enrolled a total of 8.9 million students (of all ages) in the 2020–2021 academic year.9 Across the higher education landscape, community colleges enroll 41 percent of all undergraduates.10 Demographics. [...] A higher percentage of community college students begin their studies with financial uncertainty than students in four-year schools.11 Twenty-seven percent of students at community colleges live in poverty, compared to just 13 percent of students at selective four-year schools and 15 percent of students at moderately selective four-year schools.12 Fifty-nine percent of community college students a. [...] For example, at the Commu- nity College of Aurora, school officials posted a statement saying that “[p]ronouns (i.e., zir, they, per, she, he) are a vital part of one’s gender identity.”24 l At Bluegrass Community and Technical College, the DEI office hosted multiple drag queens as part of the school’s 2022 “pride” parade and posted pictures on the DEI office’s website.25 Notably, community colleg. [...] In North Carolina, Forsyth Technical Community College, which offers academic programs for high school students, hosted a show in March 2023 where a drag queen “straddled” a visiting female high school student.26 Solano Community College in California hosted a performance of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” in April 2023, a musical that “tells the story of two drag queens and a transgender woman”.