Meet Dr. Nefertiti, UMass' New Queen of Equitity
There are never too many vice Provosts, Chancellors and Presidents for DEI, but there is only one Queen
We thank Peter, our guest writer, for the tip.
It's time to step out of our shell and pay a little visit to the mothership: the UMass system. While we at UMass Boston still act like it’s the height of 2020’s Floyd-mania, the UMass President’s Office is keeping pace with their own DEI enthusiasm. In a recent X (formerly known as Twitter) post, President Marty Meehan was absolutely thrilled to announce that Dr. Nefertiti “Nef” Walker has been appointed as the new Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Equity. Cue the confetti!
Dr. Nef (She/Her) boasts an impressive résumé: She is a former Division I basketball star and holds a PhD in Sports Management. Yes, a PhD in Sports Management. It’s a thing. If people can get PhDs in packaging science, parapsychology, or even manga studies, why not sports? Dream big, kids.
Dr. Nef is laser-focused on embedding DEI into the fabric of the institution. She’s basically a dream hire for UMass Boston’s Supreme Leaders who work day and night to steer our great university toward its ultimate destiny: becoming the nation’s premier College of Higher Order Diversity and Equity (CHODE).
Her academic work centers on organizational inclusion and the experiences of individuals with marginalized identities, such as Black, Latinx, and transgender individuals. And yes, she’s committed to LatinX to be inclusive of the 2-3% of Latinos who prefer to be called that, because the majority’s opinion is just so mainstream.
But wait, there’s more! Dr. Nef is an outspoken advocate for advancing women’s sports - a noble cause. However, there is one teeny question: does she even know what a woman is? That’s murky, as she co-signed a statement titled “The Future of Women’s Sports Includes Transgender Women and Girls”, which argues, among other claims:
There is no empirical evidence that transgender women and girls are currently – or have ever – dominated women’s sports.
Scientific evidence does not support the idea that transgender athletes have an unfair advantage in high school sport.
Rather, significantly flawed studies have been exploited to serve ideological ends.
Hmm. Do they cover physiology in Sports Management?
Dr. Nef’s academic climb was swift and lucrative. After a stint as a professor at UMass Amherst, she figured out that the DEI ladder pays better than lecturing about basketball. In 2023, she brought home $319,800, making her the 38th highest-paid employee at UMass Amherst. That’s right - she was rubbing elbows (financially speaking) with the Chancellor, head sports coaches, and a large army of vice provosts. Her new role is sure to come with a fat pay raise.
And this, folx, is how you dismantle capitalism: with a high six figure salary.
Yet even heroes stumble. During her Amherst tenure, Dr. Nef founded the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Conference. Uh-oh! Did she miss Scientific American’s 2021 takedown of "JEDI" and the 1999 Radical Statistics recommendations that rejected the term for perpetuating “biological destiny,” “(white) saviorism” and “toxically masculine approaches to conflict resolution” (violent duels with phallic lightsabers, gaslighting by means of “Jedi mind tricks,” etc.)? A rookie mistake.
Take note, Queen: the DEI universe is vast, and one misstep could land you in hot water. Next time, consult the council of acronyms first.