The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity is an activist research organization housed at the Ohio State University. Founded in May 2003, the institute produces reports, articles, and other content to promote left-of-center narratives of race in American society and support the activities of left-of-center ethnic activist groups. The institute was named after former Ohio State president William E. Kirwan, who played a key role in implementing policies based on left-wing racial ideology at the university. ¹

The Kirwan Institute receives financial support from its parent institution which, as a state university, relies on significant taxpayer funding. ² In addition, the institute has accepted millions of dollars in grants from prominent liberal philanthropic organizations. These have included the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which has also backed pro-abortion groups and advocacy for online censorship, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Black Lives Matter anti-law enforcement movement. ^{3 4} In January 2022, the institute established a partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of the largest left-of-center grantmaking institutions in the United States and another leading financial backer of racial-identity and anti-policing activism. ⁵

Initiatives

The Kirwan Institute’s research is geared towards demonstrating inequality of outcomes among different ethnic groups, as well as pressuring philanthropic and government organizations to increase their involvement in the issue. Specifically, the institute cites disparities in educational accomplishment, health, and financial resources between groups as examples of discrimination by societal structures which it demands that both private-sector and taxpayer-funded institutions address. ⁶

At Ohio State, the Kirwan Institute has advocated left-wing race ideology and its implementation in societal institutions. In September 2021, the institute ran a series of virtual presentations claiming to address “fiction and fact” about the academic race-based pressure agenda commonly referred to as critical race theory. ⁷

In addition to its activities at the Ohio State University, the Kirwan Institute hosts presentations at other colleges to promote its work and advance its agenda across the country. ⁸ This also includes facilitating such events by creating materials for local college officials giving their own presentations. For example, the institute participated in a series of events across multiple campuses which were organized by the University of Nebraska. ⁹

In January 2022, the Kirwan Institute joined the MacArthur Foundation’s “Safety and Justice Challenge,” a pressure campaign to reshape local law enforcement and criminal justice systems to reflect left-wing race ideology. The campaign targeted high-crime municipalities such as Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for their allegedly excessive prison populations and prosecutions of racial-minority suspects. The institute was selected to provide technical assistance and advisory services to local pressure groups in the selected cities. ⁵

Leadership

In August 2022, the Kirwan Institute announced that it had selected Ange-Marie Hancock as its next executive director, effective January 2023. Hancock had been teaching at the University of Southern California since 2008, where she also oversaw several left-of-center race and gender initiatives. Prior to that, she had taught at Yale University for five years. She has written several books promoting left-wing identity politics and the need for different activist movements to coordinate and adopt each other’s causes. Hancock received a master’s degree and doctorate in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ¹⁰

Hasan Kwame Jeffries is a researcher with the Kirwan Institute and an associate professor of history at Ohio State, where he has taught since 2003. His courses primarily cover the Civil Rights and Black Power movements from a left-wing perspective. He also hosts a history podcast in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a controversial watchdog group which frequently targets right-of-center individuals and organizations in an attempt to associate them with extremism and violence. Jeffries received a bachelor’s degree in American history from Morehouse College and a doctorate in American history from Duke University. ¹¹

Funding

The Kirwan Institute receives a portion of its funding from the Ohio State University institution. ² For example, the university provided $200,000 to the Institute in 2009. ¹² The institute has also accepted large contributions from major liberal philanthropic organizations, including a $1.5 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation in 2011 and a $250,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation in 2019. ^{3 4}

1. “About.” Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/about
2. “Media Releases.” Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. May 10, 2016. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/media-releases/kirwan-awarded-osu-cares-seed-grant-near-east-side-work
3. “Grants.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. August 8, 2019. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/ohio-state-university-foundation-for-the-kirwan-institute-for-the-study-of-race-and-ethnicity/
4. “Media Releases.” Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. January 20, 2011. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/media-releases/kellogg-foundation-grant-funds-kirwan-institute-work
5. ^[1]“Deepening Efforts to Eliminate Inequities in Local Justice Systems.” MacArthur Foundation. January 19, 2022. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.macfound.org/press/grantee-news/deepening-efforts-to-eliminate-inequities-in-local-justice-systems
6. “Our Research Agenda.” Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research-strategic-initiatives
7. ^[1]“Fiction and Fact About Critical Race Theory.” Columbus Free Press. September 9, 2021. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://columbusfreepress.com/events/%E2%80%9Cfiction-and-fact-about-critical-race-theory%E2%80%9D-hosted-kirwan-institute-study-race-and
8. ^[1]“About the Facilitators – Kirwan Institute.” University of Nebraska. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://nebraska.edu/inclusive-excellence/kirwan-institute
9. “UNK Presentation on Unconscious Bias.” University of Nebraska. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://nebraska.edu/inclusive-excellence/past-event—unk
10. ^[1]“Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University Names Its Next Leader.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. August 15, 2022. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.jbhe.com/2022/08/kirwan-institute-for-the-study-of-race-and-ethnicity-at-ohio-state-university-names-its-next-leader/
11. “Hasan Jeffries.” Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/about/hasan-jeffries
12. Ohio State University Board of Trustees Report, “FY 2009 Tuition & Other Fees/Charges,” June 6, 2008. Accessed December 12, 2022. http://www.rpia.ohio-state.edu/cfb/docs/cfb-2009.pdf