Texas Tech cancels segregated 'anti-racism' training for students, faculty after YAF exposé

Texas Tech University has cancelled segregated "anti-racism" trainings at the university after Young America's Foundation's exposé based on a Freedom of Information Act request uncovered hundreds of documents on the seminar.

YAF filed a FOIA request in May after being tipped off by a concerned student about the troubling "anti-racism" trainings. A university spokesperson first defended the trainings in a phone call with YAF. Texas Tech spokesman Matt Dewey described the sessions as "optional educational opportunity conversations."

"When they registered, they self-identified … if they wanted to switch they could do that at any time," Dewey told YAF. "This was an opportunity for people to discuss their individual experiences both on our campus and in their lives more broadly. I think in a lot of these situations it’s kind of a personal reflection and then they come back together and kind of discuss within the broader group."

However, the university has since reversed course on the program's teachings.

"Upon reviewing materials from the 'Deeply Rooted Conversations' discussion series, we learned that some of the content does not align with our university values, and we have discontinued this program," Dewey, the same university spokesperson coresponding with YAF, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Dewy said that the program was not part of the sanctioned academic curriculum at Texas Tech. "It was a series of strictly voluntary, optional discussions offered as part of a pilot program to students who were interested in participating through the Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion," he told the Daily Caller.

"Young America's Foundation is glad Texas Tech made the right decision in cancelling any future segregated 'anti-racism' trainings," YAF spokeswoman Kara Zupkus told The Post Millennial following the announcement. Zupkus said YAF will "continue to expose these indoctrination camps, and ensure administrators are held accountable through our legal, FOIA, and reporting efforts."

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion administrators at Texas Tech, a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, had segregated students and staff by race during an "anti-racism" training, documents obtained by YAF revealed Thursday.

Video footage shows seminar leader Mica Curtis-Wilson separating faculty and college students into two breakout discussion sessions: the "BIPOC affinity space" and "Ally affinity space," during the "Allyship and Co-Conspirator" session.

The black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) group was asked: "How do you vet allies and co-conspirators? What examples have you seen of this? How are you also bettering yourself to be an ally to other marginalised groups?"

Meanwhile, the group of "allies" was asked, "Understanding your privileges[,] how are you addressing your privileges and being mindful of other[s] in the space[?]"

"We are breaking up into two separate rooms just to facilitate conversation … and also to allow those who identify with each other to be able to communicate ways in which we can be better allies in different spaces," said Curtis-Wilson.

"The point of this is to be able to identify how we experience these concepts and ideas and deeply listen to others and how they understand these ideas," Curtis-Wilson said, noting that she was breaking up the students based on registration statuses. "If I accidentally move you to the wrong room please just let me know."

YAF discovered that segregation also occured during the "Understanding Whiteness and White Allyship" and the "Racial Battle Fatigue" breakout sessions. The FOIA office at Texas Tech distributed PowerPoint materials to YAF for review.

During the "Understanding Whiteness and White Allyship" session, Texas Tech administrators listed law enforcement—as well as immigration laws, mass incarceration, and the war on drug—as an example of "white supremacy."

Participants of the training were asked during the "Critical Self-Reflection" segment: "When have my racist ideas and actions affected others?" and "How have I benefitted from my privilege and how has that affected others?"

"How have I supported racist/anti-racist policies and norms?" and "Why do I feel uncomfortable talking about racism with others?" were other segment questions fired at faculty and students, analyzing how the training participants "experience racism, anti-racism, privilege, and fragility."

An administrator identified as "JST" suggested the segregated breakout sessions in order to "offer a comfortable and safe environment for groups to discuss racial traumas undisturbed," according to internal notes obtained by YAF.

YAF has identified the "JST" monogram as Jade Silva Tovar, the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion senior director at Texas Tech.

The university confirmed to YAF that Curtis-Wilson is no longer employed by Texas Tech, but the school would not comment on Silva Tovar's employment status. Texas Tech also had no comment on whether officials were concerned about a potential civil rights violation investigation into the segregated sessions.