Meredith Blake | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

NEW YORK — When Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson were first approached about making a cop show set in Belfast, they were — to put it mildly — apprehensive.

Both writers grew up in Northern Ireland, live in Belfast and are deeply familiar with the bloody history of the region. Yet they worried that a series about the city’s police force, which was once overwhelmingly Protestant and viewed with suspicion by the Catholic community, would be too inherently polarizing.

Even today, more than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to the country after decades of conflict, “There are some areas where the police can’t go,” Patterson said during a recent visit to New York. “The biggest fear was that the politics of it all would just swallow up anything that we would try to say and become the story. That’s often the case in Northern Ireland.”

“It’s a big privilege to tell a story about your own place, your own time, in your own voice,” added Lawn. “But it’s also a massive — I would say, at times oppressive — responsibility.”

But the duo, former broadcast journalists who worked together on the BBC current affairs series “Panorama,” reconsidered after meeting with real Belfast police officers. “These are just ordinary people, and they’re doing a crazy job for not very much money,” Patterson said. “We thought we could tell a brilliant story about family, using the police as a Trojan horse.”

This idea evolved into “Blue Lights,” a procedural following a trio of fresh recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, or PSNI: Grace (Siân Brooke), a 40-something pivoting from a career as a social worker; Annie (Katherine Devlin), a young rookie whose Catholic background puts her safety at risk; and Tommy (Nathan Braniff), who is insecure but determined to prove himself. They are guided by a team of seasoned vets, including the charming Gerry (Richard Dormer, of “Game of Thrones” fame).

Season 1 revolved around their pursuit of James McIntyre (John Lynch), a former Irish Republican Army man who is now the head of a crime family based in a Catholic, nationalist neighborhood in West Belfast. The series looked at the ties between the paramilitary groups that terrorized Northern Ireland during the Troubles and the present-day drug trade.

In Season 2, which began streaming on BritBox last week, the focus shifts across town to a loyalist pub in Protestant East Belfast that is a hub for criminal activity that transcends the political divide. The ambitious six-episode season also explores the city’s heroin epidemic, the impact of government funding cuts and the painful legacy of sectarian violence.

If this makes “Blue Lights” sound like Belfast’s answer to “The Wire,” well, that’s exactly what Patterson and Lawn had in mind when they created the show. David Simon’s acclaimed Baltimore-set drama was a huge inspiration, particularly in its multifaceted depiction of “a post-industrial city that people hadn’t paid much attention to before,” Patterson said.

Like Simon, who got his start as a newspaper reporter, Lawn and Patterson spent years traveling around the world as TV journalists. The experiences “teach you a lot about the human condition, and how people will react to great pressure and difficulty,” Patterson said.

“You would expect that the more bad stuff you see, the more pessimistic view you would have of human nature,” Lawn said. “But our takeaway from all those years was [that] most people are good and decent. The people who aren’t have disproportionate power.”

They met in 2009, while on assignment in Wales, and wound up staying out until 4 a.m. doing karaoke. (Lawn performed “Stan” by Eminem in a packed, working-class bar.) They formed an instant bond that is evident in person 15 years later: The writers share a jocular, brotherly rapport and are quick to call each other out for being boring.

They turned to screenwriting as a way to channel their frustration with the constraints of TV journalism. When they were making documentaries, they would meet remarkable people and interview them for hours — only to leave incredible stories on the cutting room floor.

Their first commission was “The Salisbury Poisonings,” a fact-based BBC miniseries about a botched attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, in 2018.

They tend to take a journalistic approach to crafting drama, conducting numerous interviews and using this primary material to create relatable characters. For “Blue Lights,” they’ve talked to dozens of police officers, who shared stories about checking under their cars for bombs and living in fear of fringe republicans.

The history of policing in Belfast is impossible to disentangle from the long conflict between Catholics and Protestants. The Royal Ulster Constabulary, the police force in Northern Ireland until 2001, had almost no Catholics in its ranks and was accused of colluding with unionist paramilitary organizations. It was “horribly divisive,” Patterson said.

The organization was replaced by the PSNI, and there has been a concerted effort to recruit more police officers from Catholic backgrounds. Today, according to the PSNI, about 33% of police officers in the country are Catholic, while 66% are Protestant. (Catholics, once a minority, now narrowly outnumber Protestants in the country as a whole.) The very existence of “Blue Lights” is a sign of the progress that’s been made. “Ten years ago, you couldn’t have made this show,” Lawn said.

Yet threats remain. Police officers in Northern Ireland regularly carry guns, unlike anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

A few weeks before the premiere of Season 1, a police detective named John Caldwell was shot in an attack believed to have been orchestrated by the New IRA, a dissident republican group, but he survived.

“Sometimes the things that happen in real life, we steer away from because they’re almost too crazy to put on a show,” said Lawn, citing a recent data breach in which the PSNI mistakenly released names and other information about thousands of staffers online, where it was obtained by dissident republicans.

“If we put that in a TV show, people would be like, ‘Come on!’” Patterson said.

In Season 2, they delve into the city’s unionist enclaves, leaning on knowledge they gleaned making documentaries about loyalist marching bands. For another storyline involving a character named Happy (Paddy Jenkins), whose family was killed decades ago in a chip shop bombing, they visited the Wave Trauma Center, which provides support to people affected by the Troubles.

But the new episodes also show how crime has, ironically, brought both sides of the conflict together.

“The paramilitary framework is essentially now a sugarcoating for drug gangs. These people do go to church, right? They pretend that they’re fighting for the freedom of Ireland, or the loyalty to the British crown, but they’re gangsters,” Patterson said.

The series has been renewed for a third and fourth season by the BBC (where it airs in the U.K.). In future episodes, they plan to shift to leafy, affluent South Belfast — “where the real criminals are,” Lawn joked.

“We love the city but realize it is a flawed diamond,” Patterson said.

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Both in their 40s and part of a generation that came of age at the tail end of the Troubles, Lawn and Patterson bring different perspectives to “Blue Lights.” Patterson comes from a Protestant background, and his father worked in Northern Ireland’s prison system — even doing a stint at the notorious Maze prison, which housed many IRA members. As a kid, he was told to never discuss what his dad did for a living or answer the door to a stranger. They had bullet-resistant glass on the windows.

“It was my normal, but on reflection, it wasn’t normal,” said Patterson, who asked his father for permission to talk about his profession before the release of Season 1. (Lawn said he didn’t even know what Patterson’s father’s did for a living until they started writing “Blue Lights” together.)

Lawn, meanwhile, grew up in a Catholic, nationalist family in Derry (the setting of the raucous Troubles-themed sitcom “Derry Girls”). His parents worked in a bank that was regularly a target of robberies. They lived across the river from the city center and would often hear bombs going off.

“I became super anxious about them coming home,” he said. “Even if they were five minutes late, I’d be like, ‘Oh, they’re dead,’ which was actually quite a rational expectation. People were being blown up all the time.”

Lawn and Patterson said they had been friends and creative partners for a decade before they really talked about their experiences growing up. Patterson explained the thinking this way: “Somebody else down the road always had something more horrific happen to them. So what right do you have to whine about the things happened to you?”

Yet in writing “Blue Lights,” authenticity is key because “Northern Ireland is a tough audience,” Lawn said. “If you get even the slightest piece of vernacular or accent or anything wrong, they will tell you. So far, we haven’t had any major complaints.”

The series films on location in republican and loyalist neighborhoods where overt displays of support for one side or the other — usually flags and murals — are commonplace.

“The only way you’re going to be able to film there in those places is with the consent of the community. So far, people have been extremely welcoming,” Lawn said. “It might be gritty and difficult, but it’s fair. It doesn’t demonize anyone.”

This realism extends to use of regional slang like “touts” (informants), “peelers” (cops) and “ride” (have sex) and the prevalence of thick Northern Irish accents, which turn long A sounds into short E’s. (Lawn heartily recommends watching with subtitles.) But the creators of “Blue Lights” believe it resonates beyond the community where it’s set, because themes like family and belonging are universal. It also approaches heavy subject matter with dark humor.

And as unflinching as it is, “Blue Lights” is also an optimistic show, Lawn said. “There’s lots of darkness, lots of grimness. But ultimately, I think it’s about a kind of quiet heroism.”

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Ksenia Prints (Associated Press)

If you thought that going sober meant signing up for a lifetime of tepid ginger ale, think again. In the past few years, non-alcoholic drink options have become more popular than ever. So whether you’ve been dry for a decade or have recently become sober curious, read on for an inside look at why so many Americans are embracing mocktails this summer.

Americans are breaking up with booze

Ever thought about reducing your alcohol consumption? If so, you’ve likely noticed that summer social events and alcohol seem to go together like gin and tonic: a frustrating combination for those looking for alternatives.

It might be a glass of wine with lunch, a couple of beers on the dock or an evening enjoying margaritas on the patio – whatever the occasion, alcohol starts to feel inescapable. Even when what you really want is a non-alcoholic Aperol spritz, it can feel awkward to repeatedly say “no thanks!” in the face of constant pressure to imbibe.

Is this the summer of sobriety?

The good news is that due to increasing awareness of alcohol’s effects on physical and mental health, non-alcoholic summer drinks are becoming more widely available than ever before. A recent Canadian Geographic article cited cost, diet and legal cannabis consumption as additional factors motivating consumers to seek out sober drink options.

According to Forbes, sober bars are popping up across the country, reflecting the demand for social spaces that don’t involve inebriation. And with 67% of Americans taking steps to reduce their alcohol intake, it’s no surprise that beverage manufacturers have responded by introducing a host of new and enticing sober drink options.

The non-alcoholic drinks you need to know

Designated drivers, rejoice: in recent years, a wide range of non-alcoholic options have started to pop up on shelves. When looking to stock your sober bar, don’t ignore these types of non-alcoholic drinks.

Zero-proof spirits: Miss the experience of drinking hard liquor, but not the hangovers that come with it? You can now find zero-proof versions of spirits like gin, tequila and even whiskey, as well as unique options like Seedlip, non-alcoholic spirits distilled from botanicals.

Mocktails: Whether you’re ordering a virgin mojito at a bar or shaking up your very own spicy pineapple margarita, mocktails let you experience all of the summer fun without any of the alcohol.

Non-alcoholic and dealcoholized wines: Skip the grape juice and pick up one of these options for your next dinner party. Alternatives to alcoholic wine can come in white, red, rosé and sparkling styles.

Alcohol-free beer: Today, lagers, stouts and ales can all be found in non-alcoholic form. These low-alcohol and alcohol-free options may also be cheaper than their traditional counterparts.

Your guide to hosting alcohol-free functions this summer

Are you curious about the benefits a sober lifestyle can provide? Or are you looking to create a more inclusive environment for loved ones who are avoiding alcohol? Whatever the reason, here’s how to embrace sobriety during the warmer months.

Stock your non-alcoholic bar

Seek out non-alcoholic liquors such as vodka, tequila, gin or rum. You can even embrace your inner mixologist by investing in a few non-alcoholic bitters.

Embrace alternatives to alcohol when serving food

Ditching wine doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself in the drinks department. Hosting a barbecue? Pair everything grilled with some fizzy, fruity kombucha for your guests to enjoy. Have guests over for dinner? Try adding some non-alcoholic sangria to your table. Fancy fruit juice, elegant sparkling water and electrolyte-packed coconut water are all great options that don’t involve alcohol.

Shine the spotlight on other treats, not alcohol

When was the last time you made s’mores? Instead of a toast that involves alcohol, consider toasting marshmallows over a fire pit or some candles. Or think about swapping a drinks bar for a nacho bar where your guests can customize their meals.

Challenge your friends to create unique drinks

Think potluck, but for drinks: challenge your friends to come up with inventive mocktails for everyone to enjoy. Don’t forget to assign each drink a creative name, like the unforgettable glamorous pornstar martini – yes, that’s a real drink.

Give dry a try this summer

Summer drinks don’t have to be synonymous with alcohol. Thanks to the growing popularity of mocktails and other non-alcoholic drinks, it’s never been easier to try out sobriety or commit to living life alcohol-free.

If you’re looking for ways to make summer drinks without alcohol, check out local stores for non-alcoholic drinks or consider hosting a casual, alcohol-free function with your friends. Stocking a non-alcoholic bar or placing the focus on other fun activities is a great place to start. You can also seek out sober bars or sober influencers for more inspiration.

After all, a non-alcoholic summer drink can be packed with all of alcohol’s complex flavors but none of its ill effects. Non-alcoholic drinks are often less expensive, lighter on calories, and better for your body and mind. So why not raise a glass to that?

Ksenia Prints is a writer, blogger, photographer and recipe developer from Montreal, Canada. She blogs over at MyMocktailForest.com, writing about food and drink for adventurous home cooks.

Heidi Bruaw

Forget the frosé frenzy of last summer, this year it’s all about embracing the past. Retro drinks are being rediscovered from dusty recipe books and are making a refreshing comeback for the hottest months ahead.

Why the resurgence?

This year, people have been rediscovering their love for retro drinks. Nostalgia, social media and adventurous palates all contribute to the renewed interest in vintage summer drinks.

Nostalgia

People are seeking familiar flavors and experiences from eras gone by. According to Bid Food, “57% of adults find the idea of nostalgic or retro-themed drinks appealing.” Because consumers are going through difficult times, the demand for nostalgic and comforting food and drinks is expected to grow. Flavors that remind people of their childhood are comforting.

Social media influence

Eye-catching visuals of classic drinks like chocolate milkshakes and vibrant cocktails like banana daiquiris on platforms like Instagram and TikTok are sparking interest. According to Appetite, “Social media may implicitly affect our eating behavior by communicating social norms.” The more people post appealing photos and videos of nostalgic summer drinks, the more consumers are likely to be interested in trying them. Licensed bartender, Michelle Price says, “There are many reasons why retro cocktails are gaining so much popularity lately. With all the changes in the world, it’s comforting to have a cocktail that brings back memories of ‘the good old days.’ Couple that with the younger drinkers who love to share their food and drinks on social media and try new flavors, retro drinks fit the bill on both counts. They have a great aesthetic and they aren’t the same-old same-old flavor profiles either.”

Adventurous palates

Millennials and Gen Z are interested in exploring new and unique flavor combinations using retro drinks like fresh squeezed lemonade. The Hartman Group’s research shows that more than 32% of Gen Zers surveyed said they love trying new types of cuisines and foods, while 39% say they prefer foods they’re familiar with. For millennials, retro drinks might bring back childhood memories. Retro drinks represent a past era that Gen Z can explore creatively and put their own twist on. Using vintage drinks as a base, both generations can add unique ingredients and flavors to create something new and adventurous.

How are they making a comeback?

Between high-end cocktail bars, home bartending and the resurgence of classic ingredients, nostalgic summer drinks are making a comeback. This trend is fueled by a desire for comforting flavors and a sense of nostalgia.

High-end cocktail bars

High-end cocktail bars are innovative while respecting tradition. According to The Tasting Alliance, “Through the application of scientific principles, bartenders manipulate textures and flavors, transforming familiar ingredients into unexpected forms – spherifications that burst in the mouth, foams that enhance aromatics, and gels that concentrate flavors.” Instead of mass-produced syrups and bitters, they are making their own using fresh ingredients like herbs and spices. They might make a rosemary-infused simple syrup for a fresh take on a mojito, for example.

Bars are also using modern techniques like liquid nitrogen to create new textures and presentations. A classic daiquiri might be transformed into a fluffy foam. They are taking inspiration from the classics and creating an updated drink with modern ingredients, techniques and presentations.

Home bartending

The rise of home entertaining and craft cocktail kits is making it easier for people to experiment with retro recipes at home. The Inspired Home Show reported in 2023 that 82% of consumers expect to entertain in their homes at the same or increased frequency in the next year. Craft cocktail kits include pre-measured ingredients and sometimes even include garnishes which makes it easier to create classic cocktails for guests without a well-stocked bar. Oftentimes the kits revolve around a specific theme like the Roaring Twenties or the Mad Men era, which allows people to experiment with retro recipes they may not have heard of before. Some kits include recipe cards with historical information about the drink, which allows people to appreciate the origin of these vintage drinks.

Resurgence of classic ingredients

Distillers are looking through archives and recipe books to recreate forgotten liquors. Some distilleries are also going back to older techniques to create that old-school taste. Instead of large-scale processes, they are using wood-fire stills, special regional grains or open fermentation vats to achieve a more historically accurate flavor profile.

Distilleries used to rely on local grains, fruits and herbs because it was what was available nearby. Some distillers are going back to that to add a unique twist and to help capture the essence of a particular place that may be associated with a certain liquor. According to Wine Enthusiast, “Some [distilleries] seek to spotlight homegrown flavors or the impact of terroir; others want to support local businesses; and still others just can’t resist experimenting with whatever materials are at hand, even recently emptied barrels.”

Other retro revivals

Cocktails aren’t the only vintage drinks making a comeback. Mocktails and other classic non-alcoholic drinks are also gaining popularity again, often with a modern twist.

Non-alcoholic drinks

Diner staples, such as the chocolate milkshake, are also becoming popular again with gourmet additions. Gourmet versions feature high-quality ice cream, decadent chocolate syrups and playful toppings. Fresh squeezed, homemade lemonade is also gaining popularity as people appreciate the simplicity and health benefits it provides. According to Credence Research, “the global market for lemonade drinks is expanding largely because of growing public awareness of the negative health impacts of chemically flavored beverages.”

Mocktails

Many people are focusing more on healthy lifestyles so mocktails are gaining popularity. Mocktails also allow everyone to participate in the social aspects of drinking together, whether they drink alcohol or not. More and more people are cutting back on alcohol or staying sober and mocktails offer a satisfying alternative. A 2021 NielsenIQ omnibus survey showed that “22% of consumers showed that they were cutting back on consuming alcohol and drinking less.” Classics like the Shirley Temple and the Roy Rogers are being requested more. Cocktails minus the alcohol like virgin pina coladas and strawberry daiquiri mocktails are also being asked for.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re seeking a taste of nostalgia ignited by social media trends or your adventurous palate craves a bygone era’s cocktails, this summer is the perfect time to raise a glass – or mocktail – to the resurgence of retro drinks, both at home and in high-end bars. These throwback beverages offer a delightful escape, transporting you to a different time and place with every delicious sip.

Heidi is also a vintage recipe blogger at Real Life of Lulu, where she focuses on recipes that are at least 50 years old, many from her grandparents’ kitchens.

Erika Bolstad | Stateline.org (TNS)

SALT LAKE CITY — Shortly after taking office in 2023, Republican state Rep. Katy Hall heard from constituents complaining about how their adult children were required to write diversity, equity and inclusion statements while applying for medical and dental schools and other graduate programs in Utah.

“It doesn’t seem right,” Hall said. “It doesn’t seem like it belongs in an application.”

It took two legislative sessions, but Hall successfully sponsored a new law that not only prohibits the use of such DEI statements but also bars state institutions from relying on specific individual characteristics in employment and education decisions. Additionally, it eliminates central offices dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion.

In Utah and beyond, lawmakers are enjoying growing success in their pushback against DEI programs at public universities, many of which have hired administrators and established departments dedicated to creating more diverse faculties and student bodies. Some schools’ requirement that job and student applicants explain in writing how they’d bring DEI initiatives to their work or schooling has aroused especially strong opposition. Some states have dismantled DEI departments and programs, as well as ended race- and gender-based programs and scholarships.

Many in Utah describe their approach as more measured than that of other states. The law, which goes into effect July 1, includes a carve-out that allows DEI to be discussed in classroom instruction as well as in research and for accreditation purposes.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, who signed Hall’s legislation into law in January, said it “offers a balanced solution” even as it prohibits the type of training sessions he required of his staff when he first took office in 2021.

The intent of the legislation, Hall said, is to shift higher education away from a focus on identity.

“This is what we felt was a more nuanced way to say: ‘We want diversity, we want equality of opportunity, we want inclusion, but we want diversity of opinion and a diversity of thought and diversity of religion and diversity of everything.’ Not just external, personal identity characteristics,” Hall said.

“We used to be able to have discussions about politics without it coming to a judgment of someone’s moral character,” she added. “My hope is that there will be a little more political neutrality where you can have discussions and feel safe to have those discussions without it being so divisive.”

But the bill passed along party lines, pointed out state Rep. Angela Romero, a Democrat who serves as the House minority leader in Utah. She described what’s happening in her state as part of a broader culture war aimed at painting higher education as elite and out of touch.

“This is a national agenda,” Romero said in an interview. “It’s a machine and it’s been going for a while and it’s picking up momentum.”

Utah’s rollback is among dozens of simultaneous efforts to scale back DEI programs — to varying degrees — in state capitals and on higher education oversight boards in other Republican-led states. In at least 22 states, the legislature has enacted legislation, or public universities have set policies prohibiting or modifying DEI measures at state university systems, according to a running tally in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Among the earliest passed was 2023 legislation in North Dakota that prohibits asking students and prospective university employees about their commitment to DEI. Florida followed last year with a law that does away with diversity statements and DEI offices. Alabama in 2024 enacted a law restricting public employees from being forced to agree with so-called divisive concepts, including the idea that “by virtue of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, the individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.”

In South Dakota, the Board of Regents recently enacted a policy that bars employees at its six public universities from putting their preferred gender pronouns or tribal affiliations in email signatures, according to Inside Higher Ed. Most recently, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted last month to shift $2.3 million of DEI spending toward public safety and policing on campus. Then, the entire UNC System Board of Governors voted to abolish DEI policies in place since 2019 at all 17 of its campuses.

A chilling effect

Many of the efforts to roll back DEI initiatives in states have the same roots as a campaign against critical race theory spearheaded by Seattle documentary filmmaker Christopher Rufo, who in 2020 elevated a once-obscure theory about the pervasiveness of racism in American law and institutions to a household term.

Often, efforts to undo DEI initiatives argue that students — especially white students — are harmed by learning about the history of racism in the United States because it may leave them feeling guilty or ashamed of their identity. Multiple states, including North Dakota, have adopted near-identical language in anti-DEI legislation that bans instruction that might prompt a person to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress solely because of the individual’s race or sex.”

In April, polling by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist found that 77% of Republicans say they believe that “discrimination against white people is as problematic as discrimination against Black Americans.”

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Anti-DEI laws have had a chilling effect on higher education wherever they’ve been enacted, said Irene Mulvey, the president of the American Association of University Professors, a nonprofit membership association of faculty and other academic professionals.

“The laws are deliberately vague so that professors have to be constantly thinking, ‘If I say this, will I be breaking the law? Will I lose my job or be arrested by the government if I say this in my classroom?’“ Mulvey said. “I mean, that’s where we are in America in 2024. These are the worries faculty have in an authoritarian society, and they have no place in a democracy.”

At the University of Texas, anti-DEI legislation led the system to eliminate 300 positions recently and to cut diversity training programs at multiple campuses.

The situation is similar in Florida, said Paul Ortiz, a professor of history and a union leader at the University of Florida. He’s leaving the school after 15 years for a position at Cornell University in New York. The fallout from the state’s DEI policies wasn’t the only reason he’s leaving — he got a great job offer — but it contributed to his decision, Ortiz said.

“To pretend that it’s not having an effect on the cultural and intellectual life of the state is the worst thing of all,” Ortiz said. “I’m hoping the pendulum is going to swing back.”

Students are the real losers, Mulvey said. At the University of Oklahoma, for example, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order ending DEI programs in state offices and agencies effectively shuttered the National Education for Women’s Leadership program. The program encourages undergraduate women to engage in politics and public policy. Since its founding in 2002, more than 650 students have attended.

Stitt told the Oklahoma Voice that his executive order was about race, not the women’s leadership program, and called the backlash against his policy “political criticism.”

“What we’re seeing now is nobody’s helped when these offices are closed or programs are shut down, no one’s better off,” Mulvey said. “We’re having watered-down discussions and anodyne classes because faculty without tenure are afraid of losing their job if they say the wrong thing or if someone takes it out of context or tapes them and puts it online.”

DEI statements

DEI statements in university hiring have been one of the easiest targets nationwide, in part because there’s less support for them even among more progressive educators who support wider DEI initiatives.

Editorial boards and columnists at outlets as varied as The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Post have railed against diversity statements, saying they too often result in “self-censorship and ideological policing” on college campuses. Many elite universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, have reconsidered DEI statements as a requirement of employment applications. At best, critics argue, they’re boilerplate that echoes what employers want to hear, rendering them useless. At their worst, they serve as ideological litmus tests.

“We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement to WBUR in May, confirming the university’s new approach.

But DEI statements have their defenders. Suzanne Penuel, an associate professor who teaches first-year literature and writing at the University of South Carolina Lancaster, said she witnessed how high-quality DEI statements set job candidates apart when she served on the hiring committee for a position teaching American history. Nearly all academic applicants have polished curriculum vitae, impeccable recommendations and pitch-perfect cover letters, she wrote in an op-ed in The State.

Their DEI statements gave them personality, Penuel said in an interview. It was easier to tell which applicants would take a student-centered approach to their work; one applicant wrote that the textbooks used in the school’s history courses ought to be free, an interpretation that the hiring committee viewed as an inclusive approach to education.

She worries that the assault on already slim DEI initiatives in South Carolina is a continuation of a trend that began with a 2021 legislative requirement that all college students be taught certain aspects of American history, and a proposed state-level ban on some books in elementary schools.

“I hope I never see the day when there is this prescribed list of texts from a narrow list of publishers, and only some topics can be discussed,” Penuel said.

In Utah, where Democrats hold just 14 of the 75 seats in the state House of Representatives, Romero fought unsuccessfully to keep the anti-DEI legislation from passing.

Her reasons for opposing the legislation were partly personal. As a first-generation college student at the University of Utah, she took advantage of what was then called the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs, an academic advising center that could now be considered a DEI initiative. It was a safe place in a state where the dominant religion and culture often excludes people of color, Romero said.

Because of her association with the center, Romero landed an internship at the state legislature in 1994, leading to a career working in municipal government in Salt Lake City. And now, she serves as president of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.

“Because of that, I’m here now,” Romero said on the House floor when the bill was up for debate. “What it did is it addressed the disparities. … There’s unintentional consequences when we just try to sweep things and say we’re all the same, because we’re not. There’s still a lot of things that have to change in this country for us all to be on a level playing field.”

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.