Left-wing nonprofit organizations have funneled more than $19 million into universities across the United States since 2020 to promote radical ethnic studies initiatives, including the teaching of concepts such as “drag pedagogy” and “whiteness as property.”
The findings, released by Defending Education and first reported by the Daily Wire, show that at least 55 institutions in 19 states have received millions in funding to launch or expand ethnic studies programs. Major donors include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation, which each contributed $1 million since 2020. The Spencer Foundation donated $384,225, while the WK Kellogg Foundation gave $250,000. Altogether, the total nonprofit spending on these programs amounts to $19,289,825.
“It has become increasingly clear that leftwing activists inside the universities, with financial support from nonprofits, are advancing far-left ideologies and social justice activism into K-12 education through ethnic studies,” said Defending Education director of research Rhyen Staley told the Daily Wire.
“American youth deserve a top-notch education that verifiably improves mastery of reading and math, not indoctrination and activist training for far-left causes,” he added.
The report also highlights how some of the grants have created new departments and degree programs. The Mellon Foundation, which describes its mission as strengthening the arts and humanities in democratic societies, awarded a $3 million grant to the City University of New York in 2020 and an additional $5 million in 2023 for the “development of ethnic studies.” The 2023 grant was used to establish New York’s first dedicated graduate program in Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies.
The Mellon Foundation has also contributed heavily to the University of California, Berkeley. In 2023, UC Berkeley received $100,000 for its Chicanx Latinx Studies Program and another $100,000 for its ethnic studies department. That department has been tasked with creating high school curriculum for when ethnic studies becomes a required course, with resources including works such as “Drag Pedagogy: The Playful Practice of Queer Imagination in Early Childhood,” “Black Marxism,” and “Whiteness as Property.”
