The group that released hidden-camera footage Thursday showing Texas college employees discussing DEI has a history of using the tactic to expose employees who seem to be breaking laws regarding critical race theory.
The video showed Texas college employees suggesting that they are continuing to pursue diversity, equity and inclusion work on their campuses despite a statewide ban on the efforts.
In the seven-minute video published on YouTube by the group known as Accuracy in Media, people identified as university staffers respond to questions about DEI. On Jan. 1, a state law banning DEI efforts at state colleges and universities went into effect.
University officials said Thursday they’re complying with the new law and will investigate whether any employees are acting against it. After the video was published on social media, at least one employee has been put on leave while the University of Texas at Tyler investigates.
The state’s new law prohibits Texas public colleges and universities from having DEI offices and hosting programming specific to certain races, ethnicities, gender identities and sexual orientations.
What is Accuracy in Media?
The group lists its mission as using “citizen activism and investigative journalism to expose media bias, corruption, and public policy failings.”
It visited college campuses across Texas aiming to expose employees it believes are continuing DEI work despite the new law.
Some university officials said their employees were unaware they were being recorded and thought they were talking with a recent graduate looking for a job on campus.
In previous years, Accuracy in Media focused on critical race theory bans and exposing teachers who they believed were ignoring state laws banning the use or discussion of the theory.
Who is behind Accuracy in Media?
Adam Guillette, 42, is the group’s president. He is the former vice president of Project Veritas — a group known for publishing undercover videos of individuals and media organizations it identifies as liberal.
Guillette said he has been outraged by the behavior of university administrators ever since he was in college.
“I engaged in a lot of activism at the University of Florida and, just like in Texas, ran into university administrators who just did whatever they wanted and trampled over people’s rights,” he said.
Why hidden recordings at colleges?
Guillette, who is from Florida, said college campuses are “radical hotbeds of hatred and antisemitism associated with ideologies,” sentiments he blames on DEI efforts.
“And it’s for that reason that I think DEI programs have no place in K-12 education, let alone higher education,” he said.
The group visited 24 campuses in Texas in recent months. At least nine were shown in the video, including North Texas schools such as the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas at Dallas.
“I don’t think that anybody who has ever been asked point blank, while being recorded, ‘Are you breaking the law?’, responded saying ‘Absolutely.’” Guillette said. “We think that it’s great that police officers wear body cams, it’s better for them, it’s better for the public. And I wish politicians and government bureaucrats wore body cams.”
The best next thing, he said, is a hidden camera.
What else has Accuracy in Media done?
Accuracy in Media has been in the news frequently since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war after the group started driving trucks with large screens around Ivy League campuses, including Columbia and Harvard.
The trucks’ screens showed pictures and names of students who signed letters criticizing Israel. Often the names and pictures were paired with the word “antisemite.”
One engineering student from Columbia University filed a lawsuit against Accuracy in Media, asking the Manhattan Supreme Court to block the group from using his name and image after the truck displayed him as “Columbia’s leading antisemite.”
In previous years, Accuracy in Media focused a lot of its work on critical race theory bans in K-12 education. They went to many Texas school districts across the country, including Coppell, Richardson and Mesquite ISDs in North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
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