Heterodox Conversation: How Does EDI Relate to Merit?

Featuring Paolo Gaudiano & Eric Kaufmann

Join us for this special dialogue at the Lazaridis Hall, room 3094, on Wilfrid Laurier’s Waterloo Campus at 4pm Thursday, May 9th 2024.

To some, the recent slew of policies and directives relating to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are a way to right historical wrongs by prioritizing the needs of people categorized as members of historically underrepresented groups. To others, EDI represents racial discrimination, compelled speech, and restrictions to academic freedom and truth-seeking.

One issue at the heart of this divide is the relationship between hiring faculty based only on academic qualifications (i.e. merit) versus hiring for non-academic characteristics (race, sex, etc).

This conversation will try to bridge these two viewpoints and will aim to start a good faith conversation about EDI on campus.

Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham and Director of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science. He is also the author of a recent report showing that Canadian public opinion is very divided on EDI-related issues.

Paolo Gaudiano is President and Chief Scientist of Aleria Research and Adjunct Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. He is also a Forbes contributor on Diversity & Inclusion, and Chairman of the annual Diversity & Inclusion Research Conference.