Heather Mac Donald: The Diversity Delusion

This is a great book. It's painful to read, but vitally important:

I was on my college's diversity committee this year--not to be confused, of course, with any of the other colleges' diversity committees, the provost's diversity committee, the university's diversity committee, the various ad hoc committees on diversity and/or "climate," nor any of the other many diversity-relevant committees at my institution. I went in being skeptical of the enterprise, and came out being horrified by it. There is virtually no doubt in my mind that "diversity" is, indeed, corrupting our institution. As I've said before: I think I'd rather have meataxe quotas. At least those are honest; they don't corrupt the soul of the university. "Diversity," however--which isn't even actually the goal---does. I've rarely seen a bunch of academicians so uncritical of anything. The diversity committee was a lot like a tent revival, complete with many fire-and-brimstone sermons by the dean, much amening from the rapt faculty audience, and many reminders that we--and especially our colleagues who were not on the committee--are race sinners in the hands of, and on the wrong side of, an angry history.
   "Diversity" per se isn't wanted. Nobody is arguing for more unusably small buildings, nor wild horses, nor piles of coal, nor dodecahedrons on campus. It's not even possible to seek nor increase "diversity" per se. Only some kind of nutty surrealist would even consider such a goal a goal. What's wanted isn't even demographic diversity per se; nobody's arguing that we need more Scientologists, nor dextrophobiacs, nor people over 7' tall, nor schizophrenics among the faculty. "Diversity" means: left-wing politics. Or, more precisely: "increased diversity" means: a larger number of people from the demographic groups favored by the identity politics left. We're 60-40 female students to males; somehow policies aimed at promoting the interests of female students still count as "diversity." In this respect, "diversity" is like "social justice": it's a term that puts a thin veneer of neutrality on the pursuit of progressive political goals--which include: solidifying complete control of the institution.
   Anyway; you should read this book. It won't bring you happiness...it's filled with unpleasant truths. But, of course, that's a powerful reason to read it.