by John Reid

Over the past few years, students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond led an initiative for racial justice courses to be included in the curriculum. During the Freedom Summer of 2020, requests throughout the nation fought for more educational standards to include courses reflecting diversity. Now, there are concerns of the courses coming to fruition after a recent report surfaced.

According to WRIC in Richmond, a request from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to review the racial literacy coursework. Back in 2023, the VCU administration halted plans for the course, stating a lack of resources. The students and faculty restarted efforts later on, with administration stating they intended for a Fall 2024 release, according to Professor Kristin Reed, who has supported the students in this endeavor. However, the news of the governor requesting a review has stifled the momentum.

However, activists quickly had to cut their celebrations short when they learned the material will come under heightened scrutiny following a request from the governor.

“Too much to hope for, I guess,” Reed told WRIC. “[This is] really an unprecedented intervention.”

This action is on par with Youngkin’s approach to diverse education since being sworn into office in 2022. One of his first actions was to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory to grade school students, despite it never being taught on that level.

“We have faculty at VCU who are specialists in racial justice history, the sociology of race and racism, the psychology of race and racism … and to my knowledge, our governor does not have expertise [or] knowledge in these areas,” Reed told WRIC 8News. “So it’s very hard to assess what he might be looking for, other than political [reasons].”

The administration sent a response to the station when questioned about the review:

“The administration has heard concerns from members of the board of visitors, parents, and students across the commonwealth regarding core curriculum mandates that are a thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive left’s groupthink on Virginia’s students. Virginia’s public institutions should be teaching our students how to think, not what to think and not advancing ideological conformity.”

Reed told the station how this action plays into creating an environment of control by reviewing something never done on the collegiate level.

“This really is a climate of fear and abuse,” Reed said. “And that is a climate where our students don’t have access to an equitable — or just [any] education. They can’t have that if their educators are afraid every day.”