After years of identity politics at an institutional level, Kansas State University has backtracked on one of its most egregious violations, but that’s not the end of gender ideology and DEI on campus.
Following a YAF Civil Rights Complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in March, Kansas State University has closed down its Spectrum Center. It’s website now redirects to the Office of Student Belonging, with no major staff changes.
The Spectrum Center violated federal law because it provided a resource exclusively to students who agree with woke gender ideology and excludes traditional and non-radical students. It was even previously named the “LGBT Resource Center” until 2023.
KSU released a statement announcing the closure to students earlier this month, saying it would ‘cease operations effective July 31.’ This change, however, does not seem to be in good faith.
Rather than distancing itself from the policy that isolates some students, KSU still promotes the leftist ideology at the core of the Spectrum Center. This shell game is consistent with ongoing efforts to reframe diversity programs in ways that obscure their legal and ethical shortcomings nationwide.
For example, KSU renamed its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office to the “Office of Access and Opportunity” after President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14151, while KSU kept the vast majority of the office’s language identical. This is seen firsthand in their trainings on ‘microaggressions’ that teach students about a “Social Identity Wheel” and encourages them to consider “intersectionality” of racial, sexual, and other “ascribed [or] self-claimed” “identities.”
“The spectrum center was the embodiment of leftist ideology in campus programming, while it ending was a big win for our campus, we still have much work to do” said Silas Thoennes, Chairman of the Kansas State University YAF Chapter.
The Kansas State University admin has made a pony show of complying with Title IX but clearly shows no interest in actually changing any of its beliefs.
YAF’s complaint details many more allegations that must still be addressed such as:
It is clear that the administration of KSU has no intentions of promoting truth or reason on its campus.
