Congressman Andy Ogles is going After Belmount.

by Rod Williams, July 18, 2025- In case you missed it, Congressman Andy Ogles is going after Belmont University. The reason for his ire is that Belmont maintains an office of Hope, Unity, and Belonging, which replaced their office of DEI. Ogles claims it is the same thing under a different name.

I am all in favor of the effort to curtail the excesses of DEI. DEI often discriminates against some people in order to benefit others. Asians, Jews, and Caucasians are often denied opportunities in order to promote certain minority groups. Also, some DEI programs have been used to disadvantage people with conservative or traditional values and views and used to promote transgenderism, speech codes, cancel culture, a woke ideology, and viewpoint conformity.  In general, I support a rollback of DEI. I especially support ending government encouragement and promotion of DEI policies. 

There is a difference, however, in reverse discrimination, viewpoint discrimination, the promotion of wokeism, and affirmative actions to attract minorities and promote a diverse student body. I tend to think that a university with a diverse student body is a positive thing. 

I have no way of knowing if Belmont is engaging in offensive DEI practices or if they are simply promoting hope, unity, and belonging for a diverse student body.  My perception is that the university tends to lean conservative.  I don't see Belmont as a woke institution or a bastion of liberalism. Several prominent Republicans have been funders of the university, such as businessman Jack Massey. Alberto Gonzales, former United States Attorney General under George W. Bush, heads the School of Law. The music business school at Belmont is named after Mike Curb who served as Ronald Reagan's lieutenant governor of California, and Curb has been a big financial contributor to the university. You never hear of Belmont students shouting down conservative guest speakers or engaging in antisemitic protests. I would believe Ogles' accusation much more if it were leveled at TSU or Vanderbilt or even UT, than I am it being aimed at Belmont. 

The attack on Belmont seems to fit a pattern of forcing institutions to bend to Trump's will, and Andy Ogles, being a leading Trump sycophant, listens closely to Trump's words, discerns Trump's desires, and does Trump's bidding before he is even asked. According to Ogles' statement on the matter, there also seems to be an element of Christian nationalism at play in Ogles' attack on Belmont.

Here is the Andy Ogles press release on the matter:

Congressman Andy Ogles (TN-05) sent a formal letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding an immediate compliance review of Belmont University for its alleged rebranding of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in defiance of federal law and Executive Order 14173, “Combating Radical Ideologies in Higher Education.”

Despite public claims of compliance with President Trump’s directive to eliminate DEI programs, Belmont appears to have rebranded its DEI bureaucracy under a new label: “HUB”—Hope, Unity, and Belonging. Leaked video footage and whistleblower reports suggest this rebranding is an intentional effort to deceive federal authorities and continue promoting discriminatory programming under a new name.

“Belmont University claims to be a Christian institution grounded in Biblical principles—but its administration is injecting anti-gospel DEI ideology into its curriculum,” said Congressman Ogles. “President Trump has rightly demanded that colleges and universities dismantle the DEI cartel or lose federal funding. Belmont officials, however, have been caught on camera bragging about their ‘clever’ scheme to rebrand DEI and continue pushing the same radical agenda under a new name.

“I am demanding a full investigation into Belmont—and, if necessary, a cut to their federal funding. The preservation of faithful Christian education in Middle Tennessee is non-negotiable.”

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