Is DEI in America finally defeated? Not even close. Dismantling DEI, a new podcast and video series from the Goldwater Institute, shows that this toxic ideology remains entrenched in society—and why it must be dismantled.
Dismantling DEI exposes how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continues to shape our institutions, especially universities, to the detriment of our nation. Featuring leading thinkers, educators, community leaders, and policy experts, Dismantling DEI—a project of Goldwater’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy—shines a light on the quiet but persistent spread of DEI across public life. Guests include Dr. Tabia Lee, Nico Perrino, Wilfred Reilly, Heather Mac Donald, and Corey Brooks. Watch the series at dismantlingdei.goldwaterinstitute.org, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
In the inaugural episode, Goldwater Institute President and CEO Victor Riches joins host Kevin Jackson with a warning: DEI isn’t disappearing—it’s adapting. Though the Trump administration issued executive orders to dismantle DEI infrastructure in federal agencies and public universities, Riches notes that executive actions are temporary, tied to whoever occupies the White House.
More importantly, he says, these measures fail to address DEI’s deepest roots: the college curriculum. “Even if you remove a DEI office from a university, you haven’t removed the DEI curriculum materials embedded in classrooms across most disciplines,” Riches explains.
He also highlights DEI’s underlying flaw: “One of the big problems with DEI is that it wants to continue to propagate this idea that America was founded on racist principles, on unjust principles. When of course we all know that America is the freest country in the world and offers the greatest opportunity for people of all races today. And, and frankly, in the year 2025, the idea that we should look at everything through a race-based lens just seems tremendously antiquated.”
Still, higher education refuses to let go. At many public universities, DEI has become a graduation requirement. Students are funneled through mandatory courses steeped in identity politics, while professors face pressure to sign ideological loyalty oaths to keep their jobs. Even when DEI offices are shut down, the ideology persists—rebranded under softer labels like “belonging,” “well-being,” or “cultural competency.”
Dismantling DEI exposes this bait-and-switch. Each episode highlights how deeply the ideology remains embedded in higher education and government—and how Goldwater and its allies are working to root it out. As Riches notes: “We’re running about 40 bills across the country, including a constitutional amendment here in Arizona. We’ve been very careful to craft them so that no matter what it’s called—DEI, language and culture, or anything else—if it’s a race-based practice, it will be defunded and not allowed to operate in those states.”
Dismantling DEI arms citizens, lawmakers, and educators with the truth—and the tools—to push back against DEI’s ideological takeover. As Riches emphasizes: “It’s important that we get back to the idea of equal treatment under the law, equal opportunity for all and equal treatment under the law.” If DEI goes unchallenged at the state level, he says, the cost won’t just be economic—it will be the erosion of the American ideal itself.
Watch Dismantling DEI at dismantlingdei.goldwaterinstitute.org, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
