Leaked UIUC education course materials show emphasis on race, class and belonging, fueling debate over DEI in teacher prep
Lectures from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s EDUC 201 tie race, class and intersectionality to belonging efforts and teacher preparation, citing Beverly Daniel Tatum and related concepts
Leaked lesson materials from a first-year education class at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign show a sustained emphasis on race, class and belonging as future teachers study identity in education. The materials come from EDUC 201, Identity and Difference in Education, and cover weeks six and nine of the semester, according to slides and documents obtained by Fox News Digital from a concerned student.
Week nine, titled Cultivating Belonging, cites data suggesting that close to 40% of U.S. high school students do not feel connected to school, with higher rates of alienation among students who face racism, LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities. The presentation argues that curricular and school structures can contribute to disengagement, framing belonging as something to be actively cultivated rather than assumed. One slide poses the question of whether belonging efforts require conformity to norms that erase students’ lived experiences, or whether belonging can be achieved through culturally relevant and intersectional approaches. Another slide labeled Erasure of Racially Minoritized Students features a quote attributed to Xóchitl, a ninth grader at Shields High School, describing how white peers react to her depending on whether she’s with her Mexican friends or in sports. Fox News Digital sought clarification from the course’s professor, Gabriel Rodriguez, but he did not respond to requests for comment.
Week nine also includes a three-minute video from Beverly Daniel Tatum, the author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and former president emerita of Spelman College. The Root published her video, titled Why the Black Kids Still Sit Together. The slides summarize her message that race and racism shape young people’s sense of self, and that messages from the wider world about who they are racially influence behavior and opportunities. The material then turns toward actionable guidance for instructors, urging they affirm and accept students with minoritized identities and adopt culturally relevant teaching practices.
Week six, titled Understanding the Role of Class in Educational Inequality, opens with a survey of Illinois high schools and proceeds to carry stereotypes about rural, suburban and urban schools: rural schools are depicted as poor and white, suburban schools as resource-rich and white, and urban schools as dysfunctional and mostly students of color. The slides cite Amanda Lewis and John Diamond’s 2015 book Despite the Best Intentions to describe opportunity hoarding—defined as the process by which dominant groups control access to education resources, thereby preventing out-groups from having full access to them. The materials discuss how opportunity hoarding, including fundraising by middle- and upper-middle-class parents to support school programming, can widen resource gaps between schools. A separate slide notes that opportunity hoarding may also manifest as resistance to de-tracking or expanding open access to honors and AP courses, thereby limiting opportunities for low-income students.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
The materials are cited in conservative media coverage as evidence of what the outlet describes as an extreme left bias in teacher preparation. Fox News Digital characterized the materials as part of a broader push in higher education to center race, class and DEI topics in curricula for future educators. The report notes that the course is part of the university’s education department and is taught to students preparing to become teachers.
Education observers say the leak highlights a national debate over diversity, equity and inclusion in teacher preparation and how instructors address sensitive topics in the classroom. Critics of such curricula argue they reflect a particular ideological bent, while supporters say the materials reflect research on inequality and strategies aimed at helping marginalized students succeed. Some academics caution that leaked materials may not capture the full scope of a course or university policy, and they emphasize that teaching about identity and social structures can be a legitimate academic matter when properly contextualized.
UIUC sits at the center of broader conversations about how universities prepare teachers for a diverse and changing student population. The university has not publicly commented on the specific slides or on the broader debate surrounding the course, leaving room for interpretation about how its education department frames issues of race, class and belonging within future classrooms.
The materials underscore ongoing national discourse about how topics like race, class and belonging are taught to future educators, and how such instruction may shape classroom environments and local communities. Whether viewed as informative scholarship or ideological framing, the leaked slides have already intensified scrutiny of teacher-preparation curricula and raised questions about transparency and accountability in higher education.