You remember the scandal. Last fall, FIRE broke the news that the University of Delaware's residence life program was way over the line with its doctrinaire and coercive "curriculum." Dorm residents were made to attend mandatory diversity training, and were even subjected to prurient politicized probing by their RAs, who then evaluated them on the basis of their beliefs and reported the results to administrators. The whole thing was an absurd, insulting, and constitutionally problematic endeavor that Delaware could only disavow once the word got out. Residence life programming was suspended pending a formal review by the faculty senate, and promises were made that a new, improved program would replace the existing flawed one.

So how has it all worked out? From the looks of things, it seems that Delaware has indeed kept its promise to review and rework the program--but it also looks as though the university may be in the process of simply dressing up the founding elements of the old program in fancier clothing. The word "curriculum" will no longer be used to describe the efforts of residential life programs to convert students to administrators' own way of thinking about diversity; controversial materials used in residence life programming will no longer be posted online for all to see (last fall, it was the availability of Delaware's tendentious materials online that made the university vulnerable to exposure); the programs won't be mandatory any more.

But the goal of pressing a particular set of viewpoints on students remains. "They're still talking about what could be called 'soulcraft'--shaping the soul," says Professor Jan Blits. "From what I know of the proposals, they are attempts to shape the beliefs, characters and actions of the students, not simply give them a traditional residence life program--what to do if there's noise in the hall, safety, courtesy in the buildings. Instead, they want to educate. The language has been somewhat softened, but from what I understand the substance is the same."

In a letter to Delaware's trustees, ACTA president Anne Neal summarizes the problem and urges the board to step in to ensure that the university does not compound its problems by introducing yet another unethical and ideologically manipulative residence life program. Read it here, and read the accompanying press release here.