Universities in Ohio value DEI over academic programs. From looking at the program reviews that three notable universities in the state recently undertook, however, this is not immediately obvious.
By all appearances, these institutions made assessments based mostly on budgetary metrics. Kent State University announced a four-year plan to cut nearly $70 million from its budget. The University of Toledo is suspending or consolidating 48 degree programs to save more than $21 million. Miami University has cut or consolidated 18 programs according to its new program prioritization process.
Programs with low enrollments, fewer majors, high faculty-to-student ratios, and little grant potential are also being put on the chopping block. While humanities used to have some of the highest enrollment numbers compared to other departments, they have seen enrollments collapse in the last several decades.
Enrollments for the three Ohio universities have been cratering as public confidence in higher education plummets. Kent State’s fall enrollment has declined from over 30,000 students in 2016 to just over 26,000 in 2024. Toledo’s enrollment has tanked, going from more than 23,000 students in 2010 to just over 14,400 in 2024. Miami’s undergraduate enrollment has decreased too.
When universities grow, administrators brag about smart growth according to deeply held values—and they add niche academic programs and administrators. When they shrink, suddenly economic necessities predominate, and they erase low-enrollment academic programs. Yet, program reviews are always every bit as much about educational vision as economic necessities. Some programs will always have low or no enrollments but higher costs. The question is whether they are worth it.
What departments and programs universities cut reveals much about what they value. Program reviews at Kent State, Toledo, and Miami have led to cuts in foreign languages, music, and classics, as well as various “studies” departments. But the jobs of administrators dedicated to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are going untouched, or have even been bolstered.
Miami’s Vice President for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence, Christina Alcalde, made over $225,000 in 2022, the last year for which Ohio has good records. Her assistant vice president, Hiram Ramirez, made nearly $100,000, while the director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion made just over $82,000 in 2022. Kenya Ash, Miami’s Associate Vice President of Equity, made $130,000 in 2022. The office has tentacles and personnel reaching into the colleges and student life, making up the Divisional Leadership Council and its Academic Leadership Council. Miami spends well over $1,000,000 per year on its DEI programs.
Miami also has Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies programs within its Department of Global and Intercultural Studies. Such niche ideological programs are artificially propped up by Miami requiring students to take courses dedicated to “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” “intercultural consciousness,” and “global inquiry.” Nevertheless, several programs within the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies have such low enrollments that they may be consolidated.
Humanities courses officially occupy only three credits in Miami’s general education. No foreign language is required for graduation. Partly as a result of skewing general education away from humanities, enrollments in German, French, and Russian are low, and the programs are at risk of being cut. Classical Studies, a once central but now hopelessly corrupt and compromised discipline, is also in danger, as is Art History.
No students take classes from DEI administration, yet its offices remain untouched at Miami. Kent State and Toledo have extensive DEI infrastructures as well, including Kent State’s costly, intrusive DEI strategic plan and Toledo’s affinity group offices. None of these have been touched by budget cuts.
Ohio’s legislature should ban DEI offices in the state’s public universities and fire their personnel—not only for the sake of justice and better campus climate, but also because some Ohio universities would rather commit academic suicide than reform themselves.