Ventriloquizing Institutional Ethos: Social Issues Management, Internal Public Relations, and the Institutionalization of Neoliberalism and Whiteness in U.S. Universities’ Diversity Discourse

ABSTRACT

The way organizations communicate about socio-political issues, such as racism and diversity, has become increasingly visible following the racial reckoning of 2020. This study examines the diversity discourse presented in the strategic plans from 37 of universities that comprise three major academic conferences (BIG10, Southeastern Conference (SEC), and PAC-12) in order to understand how they crafted an ethos that serves as the foundation these institutions use when later communicating about socio-political issues. To do so, we draw on social issues management, neoliberalism, whiteness, and ventriloquism to underscore the complexity of crafting an organizational ethos that features a stated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We argue that these organizations’ ethos were simultaneously ventriloquized by larger socio-political discourses while also ventriloquizing diversity in ways that made their discourse about diversity speak in ways that forwarded neoliberal and whiteness ideologies that operated to maintain the status quo.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversity
• higher education
• institutional ethos
• social issues management
• ventriloquism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. BIG10 institutions included for data analysis: Indiana University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, and University of Wisconsin.

2. SEC institutions included for data analysis: Auburn University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, Texas A&M University, University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Mississippi, University of Missouri, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University.

3. Pac-12 institutions included for data analysis: Arizona State University, Oregon State University, Stanford University, University of Arizona, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Colorado, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, University of Utah, University of Washington, and Washington State University.