Is Inclusive Excellence the New Interest Convergence in Higher Education?

• In Event: 30.043 - Living in Neoliberal Times: Complicating Notions of Progress in Higher Education

Abstract

The Inclusive Excellence initiative was launched by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in 2005 as a response to increased legal challenges to Affirmative Action in regard to considering race in admissions criteria. Affirmative Action has been widely critiqued as what Critical Race Theory coins Interest Convergence. As Inclusive Excellence is a direct descendant of Affirmative Action, this paper uses a critical discourse analysis of University/College promotional videos on Inclusive Excellence and critical hermeneutics to understand how Inclusive Excellence is a form of Interest Convergence and the implications of such.

Author

• Naomi Nishi, University of Colorado - Denver