Can Education Include Truth?
By DONALD DeMARCO
I was invited recently to evaluate the commitment a Canadian university has made to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity.” My evaluation was protected by anonymity, so I had no reason to fear any reprisals. I pointed out that these three words are not values in themselves and can easily turn into discrimination if logically applied. However, I strongly suspect that this university has little regard for logic. Both “Diversity,” as well as “Inclusivity,” taken literally, would invite contradictory members. I did not think it was a good idea for this particular university to mix neo-Nazis with the Ku Klux Klan, Quakers, and the Taliban. Diversity and Inclusivity are without limits and, if carried out, would invite mayhem.
Even if the university brought together an agreeable diversity of students, the critical question remains: What do you then do with them? The trio of fashionable and politically correct terms, provided it exercises some trimmings, is more suitable as an admission policy. But after admission, would there be education? Diversity without a unifying factor breeds chaos; inclusivity without limitations leads to in-fighting.
After examining the mottos of a long list of colleges and universities, I have not found a single instance in which an educational institution adopted “diversity,” “equity,” or “inclusivity” as a motto. The reason for this is simple. The schools I perused were interested in education; the university I was evaluating is not. A center of higher learning should not capitulate or pander to what happens to be trendy. Education should raise our sights above whatever happens to be fashionable.
Consequently, we find that the word truth (veritas) is often inscribed in school mottos. I offer a brief, but illuminating sample: University of Arkansas: Veritate Duce Progredi (to advance with truth as our guide); Benedict College: Veritas et virtus (Truth and Virtue); Colgate University: Deo ac Veritati (For God and Truth); University of Dallas: Veritatem, Justitiam, Diligite (Love ye Truth and Justice); Harvard: Veritas (Truth); Grinnell College: Veritas et Humanitas (Truth and Humanity); Indiana University: Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth); Johns Hopkins University: Veritas vos liberabit (The Truth shall make you free); Mississippi College: Veritas et Virtus (Truth and Virtue); Northwestern University: Quaecumquae sunt vera (Whatever things are true); University of Pittsburgh: Veritas et Virtus (Truth and Virtue); Providence College: Veritas (Truth); University of Tennessee: Veritatem cognoscetis et veritas vos liberat (You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free); Villanova University: Veritas Unitas Caritas (Truth Unity Love); Yale: Lux et veritas (Light and Truth).
The search for truth is a good way to begin an education. Education must distinguish between truth and falsity, between what is right and what is wrong, between what is correct and what is erroneous. The lie will not make us free, but the truth will. Therefore, truth precedes freedom. That we are all created equal is a truth which is the basis for rights and a platform against discrimination. Once these truths are established, only then can we begin to solve the problems at hand, such as injustice, discrimination, prejudice, and so forth.
To begin with a fundamental commitment to diversity and inclusivity is to prevent solving the very problems that prevail. It is to lose the game in the first inning. Examples in Canada are numerous. The Department of Computer Science at the University of Victoria is seeking to hire a faculty member with a preference for candidates from three designated groups: “indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, or women.” No diversity or inclusivity here. York University is offering up to four scholarships annually to applicants “who self-identify as black or indigenous.” McGill University, as an attempt to fight racism, gives “Preference to candidates who self-identity as black.” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that we judge people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin does not apply in this instance.
Political correctness is not only discriminatory toward applicants, but also toward faculty members. Anthony Esolen was a bright light at Providence College (whose motto, as noted above, is Veritas). He is the author of some 25 books including a three-volume translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House). He was pressured to leave his position at the school because he did not have the politically correct notion of “diversity.” He happily accepted the wonderful diversity evident in God’s creation. On the other hand, he found problems with the politicized notion of diversity that excludes dissenters. Student and faculty protests, plus a lack of support from the school’s president, made it clear that this accomplished scholar was not wanted at Providence College. He is currently a professor and writer in residence at Magdalen College in Warner, N.H.
Education should be a corrective of the problems that besiege society, not a conformity to them. That should go without saying. The “cancel culture” movement is ill-disposed to such lofty ideas as “truth.” But truth is not so much “lofty” as it is basic. Without truth we are in the dark. Moreover, truth is not all that hard to find. It is living by the truth that is difficult. And that is why several schools of higher learning combine truth and virtue as their inspiring motto.
At the beginning of his encyclical Veritatis Splendor, Pope St. John Paul II reminds us of the primacy and indispensability of truth. “The splendor of truth,” he writes, “shines forth in all the works of the Creator and, in a special way, in man, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26). Truth enlightens man’s intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord. Hence the Psalmist prays: ‘Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord’ (Psalm 4:6).”
- + + (Dr. Donald DeMarco is professor emeritus, St. Jerome’s University, and an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College. He is a regular columnist for St. Austin Review and is the author of thirty-nine books. His latest book, The 12 Supporting Pillars of the Culture of Life and Why They Are Crumbling is posted on amazon.com.)