Earlier this week, I encountered Boise State professor Scott Yenor’s report on the effects of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Texas A&M University .

As a rising first-year law student at Texas A&M law who is both a 1L Diversity Council Essay Contest Scholarship winner and a 1L Federalist Society representative — a surprising combination in today’s political climate — I find myself wondering how we can protect college campuses from the toxic excesses of DEI culture while also ensuring that people from underprivileged backgrounds receive ample access to opportunities.

The answer is complicated, given the pervasiveness of DEI in our universities and the touchiness of any discussion related to race in our political climate. The stigma against promoting concepts such as merit, fairness, and equality of opportunity in academia makes it difficult to even start such a conversation.

So, I would like to use my experience at A&M to illustrate the problem with and toxicity of DEI culture.

This year, the Texas A&M Federalist Society chapter has hosted three events that garnered blowback from the student body. First, Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart spoke about his experience and his work on the Dobbs case. Second, lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and First Liberty Institute spoke about the upcoming 303 Creative LLC case. Third, former Georgetown law professor Ilya Shapiro lectured on academic freedom in light of his experience with “cancel culture.”

None of these events were designed to offend anybody. Rather, they were meant to offer Federalist Society members and the larger student body the opportunity to hear prominent speakers discuss relevant issues.

Yet, with all three events, students attempted to wield DEI principles as a cudgel to try and shut down or discourage speech with which they disagreed.

First, with the Dobbs event, students complained that Stewart’s mere presence was enough to make them feel unsafe. Because Stewart helped overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision of 1973, his speech was hurtful toward women and minorities, as minorities are more likely to seek abortions.

Second, with the religious liberties event, students again complained that ADF’s mere presence on campus constituted an act of violence against LGBT students as ADF promotes traditionally Christian values. Blowback over this event lasted for over two weeks. The administration even held a town hall designed largely to hear students’ concerns about the presence of a “hate group” on campus that culminated in students making KKK comparisons and calling for the university to stop admitting conservatives.

Third, with the Ilya Shapiro event, students were outraged that a supposed “racist” with controversial views about DEI was invited to campus during black history month.

While the outrage surrounding the Shapiro event was minor compared to the first two examples, all three illustrate how DEI advocates use their minority status to shut down or discourage speech. At the aforementioned town hall, only one student with conservative views spoke up as compared to the dozens of liberal students calling the event unacceptable.

To its credit, Texas A&M law promised it would not bar the Federalist Society from inviting certain speakers. I also would venture to say that the campus culture at A&M is better than the culture at most American law schools. Nevertheless, my experience tracks with professor Yenor’s findings that DEI has made the campus culture at A&M less welcoming and more toxic.

Rather than recognizing that individuals are products of their unique backgrounds and experiences, DEI groups people together and assigns them moral values based on their immutable characteristics. This is wrong. When activists use this artificial moral standard as a smokescreen to police speech, campus culture suffers.

Universities, particularly law schools, should encourage dialogue and the open exchange of ideas. They should be a “safe space” for everyone to share their thoughts — not just for people who agree with the progressive orthodoxy in academia.

Jonathan Voos is a student at Texas A&M.