UCLA’s journey down the road of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology, epitomized by their program “Cultural North Star,” is a telling sign of the times. Led by Natalie J. Perry, the initiative aims to infuse these modern socio-political values deeply into the university’s core. UCLA praises Perry for her ability to “do what’s right,” attributing her success to her “empathy and radical listening.” But it’s high time we asked: What exactly is “right” in the eyes of UCLA?
Digging deeper, we uncover a concerning narrative. An investigation has exposed Perry’s professional background as fundamentally fraudulent. Perry, who spearheads efforts to mold young minds, has a Ph.D. dissertation that is a patchwork of uncredited excerpts from other works—a showcase of plagiarism so blatant it mocks academic integrity. This isn’t just poor scholarship; it’s an alarming lack of ethics and competence.
Perry’s only academic publication, her 2014 dissertation at the University of Virginia, argues for expanding DEI programs in higher education. Yet, it shamelessly borrows from ten other papers, often verbatim, without proper attribution. From the misuse of entire paragraphs to the theft of citations, Perry’s work fails to even acknowledge four of the ten sources she plagiarized.
The most revealing aspect comes when Perry’s work ventures into original territory—suddenly, the prose is jumbled, riddled with errors, and intellectually shallow, suggesting that plagiarism might have been a tool to mask her inability to produce competent academic work.
Despite these serious issues, major institutions like Harvard, UVA, and UCLA have not only hosted but also promoted Perry, lowering their academic standards to push a favored ideological agenda rather than upholding rigorous academic discipline. This case is a stark example of how universities are failing to enforce basic standards of scholarship and integrity, especially within the realms of DEI.
Natalie Perry should be held accountable for her actions, but the blame also lies with the institutions that allowed her misconduct to pass unchecked. They’ve traded academic rigor for ideological conformity, compromising their educational mission. This isn’t just about one plagiarized dissertation—it’s about a systemic issue in academia where ideological alignment overshadows scholarly merit, threatening the very foundations of educational integrity and intellectual diversity.
