I think the whole DEI concept was done in the worst possible way when the goals may have been actually noble. Universities should recruit a diverse population and encourage everyone to attend, but acceptance, advancement, retaining, and promotion should be equally applied and on merit alone. Discrimination in education of any kind accomplishes nothing and devalues the institutions.

This!

"I think there is still need to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout society."

In practice DEI entails discrimination against supposedly advantaged groups. A different approach, which I support, is not to discriminate and let the chips fall where they may.

The problem with this approach is that groups that have historically been discriminated against aren't starting from a level playing field. Poverty spans generations and escape from it for those discriminated against is the exception not the rule.

High income families generally create high income progeny, the wealth and privilege is transferred across generations.

Low income families generally create low income progeny. This curse is transferred across generations.

Historical discrimination has artificially disadvantaged large swaths of minorities, creating the income and privilege gap that continues through generations of that population.

DEI is an attempt to reset the playing field so that we can become better as a population, not as individuals.

You can say yea but look at Beyonce or look at Obama. They aren't poor.

But they're also the exception.

There are individual exceptions to all. Not every discriminated person was set back, and not every non-discriminated person is wealthy. But as a matter of a whole, the patterns are clearly visible and the cause is obvious.

The generational wealth curse applies to all races and cultures, but the actions of our predecessors(and still somewhat today) artificially held back the predecessors of the current generations that DEI policy targets.

As a whole, they are unfairly disadvantaged vs a culture that wasn't historically discriminated against.

Part of an apology is a genuine attempt to right your wrongs, make the person you wronged whole again. When that wrong affects generations of people, your debt is owed not only to the original wronged generation, but their unfairly disadvantaged progeny who started life in a place just a little bit harder.