College Orientations Indoctrinate Students in Critical Race Theory, Says Free Speech Group

Students walk and sit outside on the quad lawn of University of Illinois college campus in Urbana Champaign, Ill., on April 17, 2016. Leigh Trail/Shutterstock

The first classes freshman college students take this year will likely be dominated by left-wing ideology, a new report reveals.

A study on 50 American colleges by free speech activist group Speech First found that freshman orientations effectively function as political indoctrination sessions.

“These orientation programs overwhelmingly cover issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), while attention to the free speech rights of students on campus—or the role of viewpoint diversity in campus/academic health—is strikingly absent,” the group’s report reads.

Speech First gathered college orientation materials from 50 schools, using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Parents concerned about Critical Race Theory took home these buttons from a school board activist training on Jan. 19, 2022, in Sarasota, Florida. Alexis Spiegelman

After evaluating the programs, the group found the vast majority of schools were promoting left-wing ideas.

About 91 percent of the schools focused on topics surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion, Speech First wrote.

While about 30 percent mentioned “free speech” and “viewpoint diversity.”

However, this difference fails to capture how much the focus on DEI topics dominated freedom of speech topics, the report noted.

In slideshows, schools had 3.71 times more DEI material than free speech material. In handouts, schools had 4.9 times more DEI information, and in orientation videos, they had 7.37 times the amount.

“Our public universities do not provide incoming students with a foundation of respect for free speech, open discourse, and civic education,” Speech First wrote.

“Instead, they focus exhaustingly on issues regarding race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and guilting incoming students into a culture of political correctness.”

In freshman orientations, some of the schools surveyed gave students startling advice.

“‘Where are you from?’ is a microaggression,” a Northern Kentucky University orientation video told students.

The video added, “‘I don’t see race’ means you don’t recognize someone’s identity,” and that “If you have not been to a drag show yet we are going to make sure you have that opportunity.”

The video was titled, “Creating an Inclusive Community.”

Orientation at the State University of New York at New Paltz required students to take the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a controversial test that claims the ability to reveal unconscious racism.

The University of California at Irvine encouraged students to take the IAT.

The University of Las Vegas provided freshmen with materials that defined “bias” as “a tendency to believe that some ideas are better than others.”

Silence and Cowardice

When students encounter orientations that promote ideas like these, they react with cowardice, Speech First noted.

“Often, they feel so outnumbered, so concerned that their ideas and questions may get them in trouble or destroy their college experience/career, that they are not able to find the courage to speak up.”

But the students weren’t the only ones who hesitated to make their speech public, Speech First wrote.

“We found significant resistance from universities to cooperate and provide the records we requested even though they are obligated to do so in a timely manner per state Freedom of Information Act laws,” the group wrote.

Resistance from schools meant that Speech First’s project took almost a year to complete, it said.

“We know we are only scratching the surface of the attempts by universities to coach and guilt students into seeing one another as potential enemies with the goal of suppressing dissenting voices,” the report reads.

To pressure schools into promoting free speech during orientations, Speech First suggested that students anonymously send objectionable orientation content to the group’s tip line.

“The Freshman Orientation Tip Line will continue to expose universities’ nefarious attempts to avoid transparency and their responsibility to their communities of students, parents, and the academy,” the group wrote.

The schools Speech First reported on include: Boise State University, California State University-Northridge, City University of New York-Hunter, Evergreen State College, Fort Lewis College, George Mason University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana University-Bloomington, James Madison Univ., Kent State University, Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, Missouri State University, Montana State University, North Carolina State University, Northern Kentucky University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Rutgers University, State University of New York-Buffalo, State University of New York-New Paltz, Towson University, Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Alaska-Anchorage, University of California-Irvine, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Central Florida, University of Central Missouri, University of Colorado- Boulder, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Louisiana, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska, University of Nevada- Las Vegas, University of Nevada-Reno, University of New Mexico, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas-Arlington, University of Texas-Austin, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, University of Wyoming, Utah State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Virginia State University.