The Pentagon quietly announced that it plans to disband its education wing’s diversity, equity, and inclusion unit to disperse DEI specialists throughout existing departments, Fox News Digital revealed Friday.
The Department of Defense Education Activity is a federally-operated school that serves military children. It is part of the Pentagon’s education branch. Currently, there are approximately 70,000 children enrolled in DOD schools.
The Biden administration requested all federal agencies to “establish Chief Diversity Officers” and DODEA’s DEI unit was established.
Kelisa Wing was named the DEI chief education officer by the agency in 2021. The wing was criticized for making “woke administrator” comments about social media in September 2022 that denigrated white people.
“I’m so exhausted at these white folx in these [professional development] sessions,” Wing allegedly posted on social media. “This lady had the CAUdacity to say that black people can be racist too.”
The term “CAUdacity” is a combination of “Caucasian” and “audacity.”
Wing was the subject of a six-month investigation because of her comments. Wing was investigated and reopened by Gil Cisneros, the DOD’s Undersecretary for Defense for Personnel Readiness.
Matt Gaetz asked Cisneros what “audacity” meant. Cisneros replied that he didn’t know. Wing was not disciplined.
Cisneros informed Congress that Wing had been removed from “DEI-specific” responsibilities, but that he was still involved in a restructuring. Fox News Digital sources claimed that Wing is still listed as a DEI professional.
An email was sent announcing the disbandment. It stated that DEI specialists would be reassigned to several divisions at the headquarter, including Research, Accountability and Evaluation, Professional Learning, and Human Resources.
Fox News Digital’s Tom Brady is DODEA Director and confirmed that the agency will be undergoing a “reconfiguration of talent” that will see the DEI unit dismantled and dispersed.
Pentagon spokesperson stated that the Department of Defense Education Activity is committed to diversity, equality, and inclusion efforts of its employees and in support of high achievement for our 67,000 military-connected students.
“Department of Defense DEIA Strategy Plan. The spokesperson stated that DoDEA had restructured its headquarters staff to include diversity, equity, and inclusion expertise in key areas to continue addressing barriers to inclusion, closing the gaps, and incorporating the institutional insight we’ve gained over the past two years.”
