Overview

As government offices, corporations, and campuses dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs amid intensifying political backlash, a new book from Yale University Press argues that public debate has lost sight of DEI's origins. In The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea, Berkeley Law Professor David B. Oppenheimer reconstructs the two-century history of diversity as an intellectual and institutional principle, one rooted in the origins of the modern research university, the development of free speech doctrine, and the science of decision making. Drawing on legal history, philosophy, education theory, and social science, Oppenheimer shows that ""The diversity principle is the idea, recognized for more than 200 years, that institutions function better when they include people with different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints."" The book traces the Diversity Principle from early 19th-century Europe, when reformers like Wilhelm von Humboldt opened universities to religious and cultural outsiders, through its influence on John Stuart Mill's defense of free expression, to its adoption by American universities, courts, scientists, military leaders, and business executives in the 20th century. Along the way, the principle helped shape academic freedom, the ""marketplace of ideas,"" and the legal framework that governed affirmative action for nearly half a century. In 2023, the Supreme Court rejected diversity as a justification for race-conscious admissions, overruling decades of precedent. Since then, conservative political leaders and advocacy groups have expanded the fight, targeting corporate diversity programs, university curricula, minority scholarships, and even the teaching of racism and exclusion. Oppenheimer contends that these attacks risk undermining the very conditions that make learning, innovation, and democratic deliberation possible. Grounded in extensive historical research and decades of empirical evidence, The Diversity Principle speaks directly to educators, business leaders, policymakers, lawyers, and journalists grappling with the consequences of the current rollback, and to anyone trying to understand what is truly at stake in today's diversity debates.

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Reviews

""'Diversity' is no newfangled idea. Philosophers and political theorists have known and written for centuries that diverse groups make better decisions. David B. Oppenheimer's comprehensive tour of diversity's advocates provides essential armor against those who would now dismiss its value."" -- ""Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law"" ""David B. Oppenheimer explores the diversity principle through fascinating accounts of the historical figures who developed it. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters."" -- ""Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech"" ""David B. Oppenheimer has performed an amazing feat of intellectual detective work by tracing the origins of the concept of diversity in university admissions--and thereby showing that diversity has always been essential to the liberal tradition."" -- ""Nicholas Lemann, author of Higher Admissions""

Author Information

David Oppenheimer is a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he serves as Faculty Co-Director of the Pro Bono Program and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law--a global network of 1,100+ scholars, practitioners and students from 6 continents working on systemic inequality and discrimination. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, he has a global pro bono practice. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and has taught in France, Italy and elsewhere. David Oppenheimer is a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he serves as Faculty Co-Director of the Pro Bono Program and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law--a global network of 1,100+ scholars, practitioners and students from 6 continents working on systemic inequality and discrimination. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, he has a global pro bono practice. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and has taught in France, Italy and elsewhere. Adenrele Ojo is a wearer of many creative hats: actor, audiobook narrator, producer and photographer. She is a multi-AUDIE Award winner, has received several Earphone Awards and was included in Audiofile's Best Audiobooks of 2023 in Romance and Mystery & Suspense. Raised around the theater literally, her late father was the Founder & Artistic Director of the New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. She has been nominated for an L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Featured Actress, and been in The Ballad of Emmett Till whose production won the 2010 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award & the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Ensemble. When she is not performing, recording or traveling, you can sometimes find her directing authors, celebrities and other audiobook narrators. She is a member of SAG*AFTRA.

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