Since the 2020 George Floyd riots, America’s colleges and universities have evolved from racial justice statements and classes to creating the next generation of activists with majors and community outreach.

Schools, public and private, have made Black Lives Matter -style social justice activism coursework a staple across departments, both offering credit to current or potential students, and through community outreach programs, to teach anti-police, race-conscious strategies for civil unrest.

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In the fall of 2021, Davidson College, a private liberal arts school in North Carolina, offered its “#AbolishthePolice Race and Policing in the U.S.” course as part of “critical black studies” which used “black political and feminist theories” to “critically examine and think through issues of race, criminalization, incarceration, police militarization, predictive policing, surveillance, and domestic security.”

However, many schools have moved beyond simply offering classes to creating entire programs dedicated to the ideology, which is based in diversity, equity, and inclusion , as well as critical race theory.

“Instead of churning out future activists, colleges should focus on equipping the future generation for their professional careers,” Cherise Trump, executive director of Speech First, told the Washington Examiner. “Courses that solely focus on achieving ‘social justice’ and the intersection of race and politics, don’t translate well for an actual career.”

Emerson College

Boston-based Emerson focuses on budding activists by targeting its ” Politics, Activism, and Leadership Institute ” program to high school students.

“The Institute is focused on a number of important issues, including, community activism, social justice, civic engagement, public service, scandal/crisis management, speechwriting, grassroots organizing, and communicating with the media,” the program webpage states of its for- and not-for-credit offerings. Emerson did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the anticipated learning outcomes is to “enlighten you to the various areas in which social injustice is perpetuated, including environmental rights, LGBTQIA rights, labor laws, health care access, sexism, racism, among many others.”

By the end of the three-week course, high school students will deliver a “speech of advocacy” to family, friends, staff, and guests.

“Institutions of higher education need to return to places of higher learning and transferable skills; instead of producing the next Ibram X. Kendi, whose center for anti-racism at Boston University failed and is now laying people off,” Trump said.

University of Virginia

In December 2020, UVA received a $5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which advocates the “power of social justice in the arts, culture, and humanities,” to create its ” Race, Place, and Equity ” program.

The program is far-reaching and aimed at “developing research, teaching, curriculum, and community partnerships around the intersections of race, place, and equity.” The website says the program was inspired both by the 2017 Unite the Right rally, part of which took place on the UVA campus, and the nationwide George Floyd riots of 2020.

“Our national reckoning on race, justice and equity will test and sharpen our commitment to democracy and reshape the nation: comprehensively, and one community at a time,” the program proposal states . “That national reckoning is particularly acute in Charlottesville and at the University of Virginia. The histories of race and racism that testify to the unfinished business of the democratic experiment are inscribed in the fabric of our buildings, streets, neighborhoods, and rural lands.”

The money has been used to fund multiple first-year advising courses, and hire about 30 postdoctoral fellows and three faculty members “whose research addresses racial justice and the redress of inequities; and cultivate relationships with local communities who historically have been marginalized from the university.”

The program is therefore aimed at teaching incoming students the ideology , producing academic research based on the ideology, and advancing the ideology in the broader community.

According to the Heritage Foundation, UVA, which did not return a request for comment, has one of the highest DEI faculty ratios in the country, contributing to Virginia’s universities having the highest such ratio of any state.

University of Pennsylvania

Penn has a major concentration in its communications department dedicated to “Advocacy & Activism.”

“Through this concentration students will explore vital communication-related questions about socio-political power, protest, and progress,” the course description states. “Courses explore media institutions and the past, present, and evolving techniques and technologies of protest and social movements.”

Penn, which did not return a request for comment, offers multiple courses for advocacy and activism, including one which explores the “role of communication in the identity formation, circulation, and efficacy of social movements.”

The course, in which students will be required to “research and design their own social movement campaign,” also studies “forces seeking to undermine social change.”

“There’s a reason the DEI industry is dying and many companies are shying away from hiring those that have these types of degrees; they bring volatility and instability to whatever company hires them,” Trump said.

University of Michigan

U-M also has an expansive offering for social justice activism, many of which are online and appear to be aimed at teaching on-the-ground agitating for social justice movements.

” Community Organizing for Social Justice ” is a six-week, not-for-credit course teaching “specific strategies” for creating a social justice campaign, prompting Trump to ask whether taxpayer dollars at the public school should be “funding the training of future political activists.”

“It examines core concepts of social justice and practical steps for bringing people together to set goals and priorities, assess community assets and needs, develop action plans, and build support for implementation,” the description reads. “It includes information on how to form core groups, build organizational capacity, and formulate strategy for reaching out to constituents and allies.”

While one student commented they “left with a clear understanding of Community Social Justice” and are “ready to share with my community,” another student did not think it went far enough, stating, “I felt like I learned everything from weeks 1-3 in my anti-racism courses already. I would have loved to see weeks 4-5 expanded into the whole course and made much more practical and tactical.”

Another course called ” Community Awareness: Police Brutality in the U.S. ” surrounds the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, which “transformed into an intense interest from the public around understanding systemic racism and abuse of power.”

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“In this course, you will learn about the history of police violence in America, become aware of laws and policies that prevent accountability, understand the demands of protesters, and gain the knowledge and tools to fight for change locally,” the course description states.

The Heritage Foundation also pointed to U-M, which did not respond to a request for comment, as having one of the largest DEI bureaucracies in the country.