America’s university system was built on the fundamental values of free speech, freedom of religion, and the vigorous debate of ideas. No matter where you came from, what you looked like, or the kind of education institution you attended, you could rest assured that the marketplace of ideas was open for you to contribute to and learn from.
I wish that were still the case today, but a glance at the state of higher education reveals that academic excellence has been set aside for ideological conformity to the far-left Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda.
Across the country, we’ve seen top-down mandates with the backing of both the federal government and non-governmental accreditation agencies who pressure colleges to embrace the far-left agenda, or risk losing access to federal funding.
The good news is we’re pushing back. This week, the House passed a number of bills to pull the woke agenda out of the workplace, the classroom, and everywhere else the Biden-Harris administration has tried to push it onto the American people.
One of the bills we passed is my Accreditation for College Excellence (ACE) Act, which amends the Higher Education Act to block accrediting agencies from requiring colleges to back the woke agenda to receive federal dollars. Here’s why this is so important:
With the ACE Act, colleges founded on religious or conservative principles can follow their missions without fear of being penalized, restoring intellectual and ideological freedom to our education system.