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The University of Oklahoma is facing allegations of violating an executive order signed by the governor that prohibits higher education institutions from requiring coursework to future educators that is racially charged, according to a report by the Daily Caller.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed an executive order in 2023 that explicitly bans universities from mandating “any person to participate in, listen to, or receive any education, training, activities, procedures or programming to the extent such education … grants preference based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin over another’s.” Despite this, the university currently requires undergraduate students studying education to take a course that claims white people are complicit in institutional racism. It also teaches that special treatment should be given to non-white students.
In a statement to The Daily Caller, a spokesperson for the governor’s office said, “Our universities need to be preparing students for the workforce, not indoctrinating them with liberal ideology.”
“It’s insane that this is a required course. It’s time to look at the accreditation entities that are pushing courses like this and bring common sense back to the classroom,” the spokesperson added.
The course in questioned is titled “Schools and American Culture” and assigns one-third of students’ grades to the development of a “social justice curriculum.” the agenda encourages students to consider how they can center “the needs, histories and realities of marginalized and minority populations.
Students are also taught about “critical whiteness in education” and critical race theory. They are required to read the “Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education,” which states that “white people will seek racial justice only to the extent that there is something in it for them.”
The curriculum comes despite the fact that under Stitt’s executive order, universities are prohibited from imposing “any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping.”
In response to the criticism, the University of Oklahoma told the Daily Caller that it is “committed to ensuring its courses meet and follow applicable laws.”
“OU never shies away from complex or difficult topics,” a university spokesperson said. “We are committed to the presentation of materials that are viewpoint-neutral and non-discriminatory and we continue to be dedicated to teaching our students how to think, not what to think. The rich history of the United States is complicated and unique, and it’s appropriate that coursework reflects that.”
