INCLUSIVE EDUCATION MEANS SPECIAL EDUCATION.

I grouse about that because I must.  "Access, assessment, remediation, retention, subprime. Meanwhile striving students who lack the finances or the social connections to get into an institution where some of their classmates might be smart and motivated, even if the curriculum is coreless or trendy, end up in the academic gulags."  There are people in higher education who probably would dislike my "admit unprepared students and call it access" perspective on inclusive euphemism.  Unfortunately, when your incoming class is Distressed Material, it's going to break under load.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

That has always been the perspective, but the successful students don't go through four years fat, dumb, and drunk.  These days, being unprepared is simply another challenge to be accommodated.  "Instead of placing responsibility on students ... colleges and universities can model institutional readiness."

What's it going to take, a fatal accident on the Space Station or a complete breakdown of a government function before people who should know better catch on that enabling helplessness only produces more of it?

Well, dear reader, you could be Andrea Chapdelaine, president of Connecticut College, established 1911 in New London, and you could lean into the accommodation.

Since joining Connecticut College as president in July 2024, I have been deeply committed to creating a structure that would further advance our fundamental values of diversity, equity and inclusion. The work of the Division of Equity and Inclusion has always been multifaceted and nuanced, which is why it was essential to hear from as many members of our community as possible – including faculty, staff, students and alumni – about their experiences and aspirations. This has enabled a thoughtful and collaborative approach to ensuring that the leadership, resources and support are in place for all to thrive academically and professionally.

Accordingly, I am pleased to announce the creation of a new division at the College: the Division of Retention and Success, ably led by Erika Smith as the inaugural vice president for Retention and Success and dean of the College. The Dean of the College Division has made critical contributions to both the retention and success of our students. In complementary ways, the Division of Equity and Inclusion has supported student belonging and cultivation of a healthy campus climate, significantly contributing to retention and success as well. The new structure will facilitate the ability of the combined team to support not only students, but also to meaningfully contribute to efforts to retain and invest in the success of faculty and staff. By doing so, equity and inclusion efforts will be woven into every aspect of the College experience – including  departments, personnel, policies, curriculum and operations – rather than being siloed within a single division. This critical work will touch each department and person at Conn and will hold a central place in institutional decision-making, further creating a workplace and learning environment where individuals are allowed to grow and be their authentic selves.

Cut through all the rhetoric and interpret that new layer of management as anything other than inclusive education meaning special education.  It might be, as The College Fix's Lauren Boyer suggests, that changing the nameplates on the doors is a ploy to avoid attracting attention of the DOGE boys, and it's not fooling anybody.  All of which is likely true: and yet, with a shrinking pool of college age students for smallish institutions of not-quite-higher learning to fish in, first the deanlets have to fill their entering classes, then they have to fret about retention and completion.  Whether those efforts translate into producing human capital for the graduates to trade on is somebody else's problem.