Rutgers University founded in 1766 is one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution.  The alumni boast many who were predominant in the revolutionary founding. Inclusion and access began in 1867 when Kusakabe Taro was the first Japanese student to enroll in a U.S. college.  In 1892 James Dickson Carr was the first African-American to graduate from Rutgers and in 1918 the New Jersey College for Women was founded on the campus.

Currently, at the Rutgers Department of Education Graduate Studies a move is afoot to "advance narratives of achievement and success in higher education among Latinx/a/o students.  So according to Dr. Nichole Garcia, "a Mexican and Puerto Rican woman of color"

we need to understand the differences in the distinct groups that make up the Latinx/a/o community.  Once we do, we will be better positioned to meet the diverse needs of these different groups by creating programming to ensure the success of all students and allocating funds [emphasis mine].

Garcia wants to investigate "why Latinx/a/o are the largest ethnic population, but experience some of the lowest college completion rates."

Sounds laudable on the surface even though former Bronx Borough President and United States Representative Herman Badillo explained it quite succinctly in 2006 in his book titled One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Just Like Other Immigrant Groups. At the time, his answer was "as politically incorrect as the question: Hispanics simply don't put the same emphasis on education as other immigrant groups. As the nation's first Puerto Rican born U.S. congressman...  Badillo once supported bilingual education and other government programs he thought would help the Hispanic community. But he came to see that the real path to prosperity, political unity, and the American mainstream is self-reliance, not big government." 

Badillo asserted that "'social promotion' or putting minority students' self-esteem ahead of their academic performance and then admitting them to college unprepared… despite the system's documented failures and injustices" is inherently wrong. In addition, "self-identifying as 'Hispanic' or 'white' or 'black' undermines achievement."

That was 14 years ago and as the leftist agenda keeps solidifying on college campuses, Badillo's ideas are kept under wraps.  Instead, Rutgers and other schools perpetuate the identity politics that is destroying genuine self-worth and achievement.

At the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, Shannon Watkins unwraps how "the anglicized Spanish term Latinx is the latest attempt of gender activists to impose their perverse ideology on the rest of the culture [and] on Spanish speakers in particular."

What is so significant about adding the letter 'x' to the word 'Latino?' To activists, it solves a confounding problem: There is no 'gender-neutral' way to refer to individuals in the Spanish language. Someone, for example, may be described as a 'Latino' writer (if a man) or a 'Latina' writer (if a woman), but there is no phrasing for those who don’t consider themselves male or female.

But in the early 2000s, activists came up with a solution: Replace the 'o' in masculine words like 'Latino' and the 'a' in feminine words like 'Latina' with a gender-neutral 'x' to create the inclusive term 'Latinx.'

So the Leftists have "killed two birds with one stone" -- they have insinuated the whole left-wing ideology about gender-neutral language and also made an alleged compassionate plea to the Spanish community.

For a while, 'Latinx' remained a niche term secluded to small circles of academics and activists. But not for long. Around 2014, eager to appear 'inclusive,' colleges and universities started to adopt the term.

As a result, institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, and the University of Florida began to re-label. For example, 'Hispanic heritage month' became 'Latinx heritage month,' and  'Latino Studies' was changed to 'Latinx studies.'  In addition, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has now joined the bandwagon.

This, despite the fact that the "overwhelming majority of Hispanics in the U.S. do not want to be referred to as "Latinx." Hispanic is the preferred term because Latinx "simply does not make linguistic sense" to a Spanish speaker since it "embodies a gender ideology completely unmoored from reality."

While the change from 'o' to 'x' might seem minor to some, it is in fact an attempt by ideologues to impose a highly questionable theory of gender by distorting and policing language.

But Newspeak is exactly what leftists engage in and if they say it enough times, it becomes reality. With the imprimatur of colleges across the nation, how much better does it get?  Thus, " Latinx -- an alternative to Latino or Latina -- is headed in that direction. Academic centers are adding the word to their titles. The term is becoming de rigueur among artists and politically active youth. Media outlets like NPR are using it without remark or explanation. Another sign that this word has staying power: dictionaries have recently taken the time to define it."

Latinx (adj.): Relating to people of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina)

Moreover, the term has "now gained currency among marketers and media personalities" who are often quite progressive in their thinking. For example, Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren promised to champion "Latinx families."

In a column for the Los Angeles Times, an Hispanic writer noted that millennial media outlets who used it found their pages “flooded with negative reactions, with some calling the term ‘ridiculous,’ ‘stupid’ and ‘offensive.’”

Alejandrina Gonzalez, a Mexican-American Stanford University student, has stated that "millennials who view Latinx as liberating have it backwards. 'Changing our language is the opposite of empowering.'"

Even more telling is the title of the Rutgers piece originally alluded to.  Called "Research on Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice: Advancing Narratives of Achievement and Success in Higher Education Among Latinx/a/o Students."  By now, as more people become aware of the harmful social justice narrative, the words diversity, equity and social justice should get people's antennae buzzing. 

The Left has destroyed education attainment among Blacks and it now has its sights on the Hispanic population by emphasizing identity instead of impeccable language acquisition and critical thinking skills.

Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com