Ohio lieutenant governor Jim Tressel, who may run for governor, only a few years ago promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) while serving as president of Youngstown State University.
Tressel, the newly appointed lieutenant governor and former president of Youngstown State University, is rumored to be running for governor against leading candidates such as Vivek Ramaswamy.
Across the nation, lawmakers and the Trump administration are moving to ban DEI, believing it to be a discriminatory practice.
Buckeye State lawmakers on Wednesday passed the Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act in the state Senate, which would prohibit DEI programs in higher education and prohibit faculty from going on strike.
However, as Ohio has moved to scrap DEI across the state’s higher education system, it appears that Tressel was a vocal proponent of the controversial policy only a few years ago.
In 2019, as president, he and other university leaders tapped Carol Lynnett Bennett to serve as assistant provost for diversity and inclusion. In 2022, Bennett earned $113,000 to promote DEI across the university.
Before she was tapped to be the leading DEI voice at Youngstown University, Bennett helped make Truman State University in Missouri a “more inclusive and equitable campus environment” and increased “student diversity.”
“As an institution, we must put forth the ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion and emphasize that we believe in every student that walks through our doors will be successful,” Bennett said in a statement cheering the alleged ideals of DEI. “This means that we will be fully vested in our students and willing to work collaboratively with our stakeholders to ensure Youngstown State University remains a sustainable institution of higher education.”
Under Tressel’s leadership, Youngstown State University created the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, directing Bennett to create a strategic plan for the office.
In April 2021, Tressel said about the benefits of the university’s culture of diversity, “That word university means ‘unity in diversity.’ It’s young people leaving their cultural background, maybe that has been somewhat limited, coming to a university where there are people coming from lots of different directions, and we have a chance to create that unity in the diversity.”
“YSU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion embraces YSU’s inclusion mission and goals to facilitate a campus culture that embraces and respects human differences across all aspects of diversity and to cultivate a climate of mutual respect and acceptance,” he added.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
