Authored by Micaiah Bilger via The College Fix,

Even as diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts draw increased scrutiny at the state level, a federal government agency is bragging about promoting DEI – and using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars to do it.

“Progress” is how National Institutes of Health diversity officer Marie Bernard recently described the agency’s work to fund more research by black scholars.

But the massive amount of time and money the NIH is dedicating to DEI in higher education is anything but “progress” when the color of a person’s skin or their “gender identity” is weighed more heavily than their merit.

Meanwhile, professionals are expressing concerns about DEI efforts leading to a lower caliber of students and recent graduates, including future doctors and military leaders.

The NIH has been working since 2011 to close up what an agency-commissioned report described as a “gap” in funding to black researchers, Bernard wrote in a recent blog post on the NIH website.

“Over the last 13 years since the release of the Ginther report, NIH has initiated numerous initiatives to foster diverse perspectives in science,” including a Diversity Program Consortium and institute-wide trainings “to foster diverse perspectives in science,” she wrote.

Her own role as the chief officer for scientific workforce diversity also was created as a result of the report, Bernard wrote.

While “gaps remain in funding rates by race and ethnicity for research project grants,” Bernard said the NIH is “encouraged by the overall trends.”

But Bernard denied that the NIH is funding projects “based on demographic characteristics,” writing:

“Clearly, to benefit from the full range of talent available within the United States and foster creativity and innovation in science, we need as broad a range of voices as possible. … NIH, of course, does not fund based on demographic characteristics, and those data are not available to reviewers during their deliberations. However, we will continue looking at the data retrospectively to determine whether we are achieving equity and evaluating our programs and policies to be assured that there are no barriers to everyone being at the table.”

In the same article, however, she mentioned the NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation initiative, which “target[s] early career faculty who have an interest and commitment to [diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility].”

That initiative awarded more than $64 million to four universities earlier this year for the purpose of recruiting more “diverse” faculty. And it’s the third round of awards – meaning that is just a fraction of the total funding.

For those wondering why identity politics and DEI have become such a big focus in higher education, consider the old adage “follow the money.”

With the federal government continuing to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into such projects, it is little wonder these controversial ideas are getting so much attention.