Woke University of Oregon student body wants critical race theory to become a graduation requirement
The University of Oregon‘s student government has made a proposal that would require anyone getting a bachelor’s degree take a course in Critical Race Theory.
The school, which serves 18,604 undergrads and receives a $912.5billion endowment from the taxpayers, requires courses that teach inequality or global perspectives, but this would be the first requirement directly related to CRT.
Isaiah Boyd, a political science major and the president of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, laid out the plan at the university board of trustees meeting Wednesday.
‘Racism and the social power structures that have enabled and continue to manifest the inequalities that many marginalized identities groups face must be continuously addressed and studied,’ the plan reads.
‘The goal of this project is to initiate the necessary conversations with the Office of the Provost, the Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success, and the University Senate to find the most appropriate way of incorporating a course requirement into the bachelor’s degree track.’
Tyler Boyd, President of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, is behind the plan
Students walk on the University of Oregon campus in the city of Eugene
The plan student government laid out to require a course in Critical Race Theory be taught to all seeking Bachelor’s degrees
Boyd told a local TV station the proposal has been in the works since the 2020 election cycle and hopes to have it implemented in time for the 2022-23 school year.
The plan defines Critical Race Theory as ‘a framework used to examine power and oppression dynamics between racialized groups, providing insight on how racism serves to maintain and reinforce inequity in educational policies, practices, and access to resources and opportunities.’
The students believe that education in CRT will increase awareness of ‘systemic racial inequities’ that create opportunities for those in power to ‘engage in socially conscious action and decision-making within higher learning.’
A spokesperson for University of Oregon Provost Patrick C. Phillips’ office said that it was willing to discuss the plan.
‘Recently, the university went through an extensive process to update its undergraduate Core Education requirement focused on issues of race and inequality. The Office of the Provost is happy to continue the dialogue with student leadership around core curriculum requirements in conjunction with the University Senate and its curriculum committees, which now have student representation for the first time in several years, thanks to the ASUO,’ the provost’s office said in a statement.
A spokesperson for University of Oregon Provost Patrick C. Phillips’ (pictured) office said that it was willing to discuss the plan
Ben Ehrlich, the chairman of the school’s federation of college Republicans, believes the plan will only create more division among students
Ben Ehrlich, the chairman of the school’s federation of college Republicans, assumed Boyd was kidding.
‘When I first saw that, I honestly thought it was some kind of joke,’ said Ehrlich. ‘Do they not teach that stuff already?’
Ehrlich believes requiring CRT in schools would create more division.
‘Go back to the day and age that I lived through in public school where you could not tell the political affiliation of your teacher or professor,’ he added. ‘That’s how it ought to be.’
Currently, Oregon students are required to take a course in ‘difference, inequality and agency’ in the United States, or one on global perspectives.
The office noted that ‘diversity of background, thought, and perspective is an absolute necessity for building academic excellence.’
CRT has come under the national spotlight in the past year, with conservatives claiming the academic theory is anti-white.
Richard Delgado, 82, and his wife Jean Stefancic, 81, who wrote the book ‘Critical Race Theory: An Introduction’ two decades ago define CRT as ‘a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.’
Many conservatives have become concerned that the controversial academic theory is being taught in schools, but a national teacher’s union denied that claim in July.
