Illinois university nursing program gets ‘racial healing’ grant for DEI curriculum

(The Center Square) – Elmhurst University will hire a “diversity, equity, and inclusion” consultant to revise its nursing program.

The $25,000 “racial healing” grant from Illinois will “help the department ensure its Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) curriculum fully integrates diversity, equity and inclusion concepts,” according to a March news release.

“We’re hoping to get people more comfortable talking and learning about the intersectionality of our lives and society,” Becky Hullet, director of the west suburban Chicago university’s graduate nursing programs, stated in the news release.

The eventual goal is to integrate DEI throughout all nursing degrees.

Hullet did not respond to two emailed requests for comment sent in the past two weeks asking for comment on the plans.

“Among the near-term changes she envisions: ensuring that assignments reflect what’s happening in the real [world], adjusting how assignments are measured, and changing how faculty members talk with students,” the university announced. “She also hopes the grant can help fund faculty professional development.”

Elmhurst’s DEI team also did not respond to two emailed requests for comment.

The program is “disappointing,” according to Laura Morgan, a retired nurse who now works for Do No Harm.

“While it’s not surprising to see this type of indoctrination happening in an Illinois university, it’s still disappointing, especially when a private university is accepting public funds to support it,” Morgan told The Fix via an emailed statement.

The chief of staff for Do No Harm, which opposes DEI in healthcare, said patients are “better served by individuals educated to be competent nurses who approach their practice from the perspective of treating everyone equally, regardless of immutable characteristics.”

“While several states have taken measures to remove DEI from their institutions of higher education, Illinois continues to plunge headlong into institutionalizing divisive race-based ideology through its taxpayer-funded entities like the Department of Human Services,” Morgan said.

Elmhurst University is just one of the recipients of the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Healing Illinois program which funds “racial healing activities” and initiatives to advance “anti-racism.” The state will spend up to $4.5 million on grants.