Over a year after the district introduced their educational equity program, six Rockwood schools have completed their initial Dignity Consulting training. These “pilot schools,” including Summit, were chosen by the district to begin training sessions in the “Belonging through a Culture of Dignity” program before it was implemented to the rest of the schools. The training comes at a time where diversity training as a concept faces a large stigma. Earlier this year, Utah and Alabama signed laws that banned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools and universities, following legislation from Texas and Florida that targeted DEI in higher education. Some critics of the program believe it is just a waste of time and money, while others claim it places minority students on a pedestal and favors them. Many of these critics, though, have a fundamental misunderstanding of what exactly these programs aim to achieve.

Often, DEI is lumped together with affirmative action and other specifically race-based initiatives. This sparks outrage among people who believe race is unfairly coming to the forefront of educational conversations, claiming that people should be judged by their merit and not their skin color. While diversity programs do aim to ensure students of all races and ethnicities feel included in their classrooms, summing up these initiatives as being solely race based undermines so many of these goals. Many of these programs– including Rockwood’s– also work to ensure that schools are accommodating to students with disabilities, different learning styles, low-income backgrounds, and other situations that make the typical public school environment difficult to navigate. It is the purpose of a school to help students complete their studies and graduate in order to be prepared for their futures. If schools are not accounting for all of their students in this mission, even the ones who may be struggling, they are failing. The politicization and demonization of DEI programs in schools has made people lose sight of their actual goals and the necessity of having them. The Talon believes that every student should be granted equal opportunities and supports the district’s use of diversity training programs to achieve this goal.