diversity, equity, and inclusion

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Trump Yanks $2.1B for Chicago in a 'Very Bad Day for Public Transit'

President halts funds for city's subway projects over possible 'discriminatory' practices

(Newser) - The Trump administration has halted $2.1 billion in federal funds earmarked for Chicago subway projects, intensifying a standoff with Democratic leaders as the government shutdown drags on . The White House says the hold is necessary to prevent money from moving through contracts it claims may be based on...

A School With 2-Hour Days and Zero Teachers

The experimental private school uses AI to teach at a breakneck pace

(Newser) - Imagine finishing school before lunch and learning twice as much—with no teachers anywhere. That's the promise of Alpha School, a fast-growing private school network that's opening a campus in New York City this fall, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cost is steep, at between $40,000...

Cracker Barrel Commotion Isn't Over Just Yet

Chain quietly pulls Pride, DEI pages from its website

(Newser) - Cracker Barrel has quietly made changes to its website, removing a dedicated "Pride page" and stripping out references to employee resource groups, including those focused on LGBTQ+ employees and diversity initiatives. The move comes days after the Tennessee-based restaurant chain reversed a controversial logo redesign that had drawn...

Feds: George Mason Breached Civil Rights in Hiring

Department demands policy overhaul, apology from university president over DEI practices

(Newser) - The Department of Education has determined that George Mason University violated federal civil-rights law by factoring race into hiring and promotion decisions, according to an announcement on Friday. The department's Office of Civil Rights concluded that the university's practices breached Title VI, which bars discrimination based on...

Portrait Gallery Chief Resigns After Trump Tried to Fire Her

Kim Sajet had kept showing up for work

(Newser) - The Smithsonian Institution still maintains President Trump doesn't have the authority to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery, but Kim Sajet announced Friday that she's leaving anyway. "From the very beginning, my guiding principle has been to put the museum first," Sajet said in...

Trump Says He's Firing National Portrait Gallery Chief

Whether he has the authority to remove Kim Sajet, the first woman in that role, remains unclear

(Newser) - President Trump announced Friday he has fired Kim Sajet, the longtime director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Sajet, who was the first woman in the role, led the gallery for 12 years. Trump made the move public in a Truth Social post , citing recommendations from "many...

Stockholm Rejects US Embassy's DEI Demand

'We will not sign this document at all, of course not'

(Newser) - The Stockholm City Council has rejected the US Embassy's demands that it comply with the Trump administration's rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. In an email to the city's planning office, dated April 29, the embassy in Sweden's capital asked that Stockholm officials sign a...

Harvard Makes a Big DEI Change
Harvard Makes
a Big DEI Change
Apr 29, 2025 4:24 PM CDT

Harvard Makes a Big DEI Change

Diversity office has been renamed Community and Campus Life

(Newser) - Harvard University is fighting the Trump administration in court —but it has also made some changes that appear to go some way toward meeting the administration's demands. In what CNN calls a "symbolic bow" to the White House, the university's Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and...

Kennedy Center Nixes LGBTQ+ Pride Events in June

'We are finding another path to the celebration'

(Newser) - Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week's worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer's WorldPride festival in Washington, DC, amid a shift in priorities and the ousting of leadership at one of the nation's premier cultural institutions. Multiple artists and producers involved in...

Judge Rules Against Trump on DEI in Schools

Ruling puts at least a partial block on White House directive against diversity programs

(Newser) - President Trump suffered a courtroom defeat on Thursday in his push to make K-12 public schools get rid of all their DEI policies. A federal judge in New Hampshire temporarily blocked the ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, ruling that the Trump administration needs to provide a better definition...

Harvard Has $2.2B in Funds Frozen After Refusing to Comply

Trump administration acted quickly after university refused to make changes it demanded

(Newser) - Within hours of Harvard's announcement that it would not comply with the Trump administration's policy demands, federal officials said $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to the university would be frozen, along with a $60 million contract, the New York Times reports. "Harvard's statement today reinforces...

After Edits to Underground Railroad Page, NPS Reverts

Harriet Tubman pic, slavery mentions were deleted; NPS rep says edits were made 'without approval'

(Newser) - The National Park Service has restored a webpage about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad after Tubman's photo was removed, along with numerous mentions of slavery. The Washington Post described various website changes on Sunday, attributing these to strict interpretations of President Trump's executive orders to eliminate "...

New York Schools Answer DEI Ultimatum With a 'No'

State education officials point out that Betsy DeVos had praised diversity and inclusion efforts

(Newser) - State education officials in New York have rejected the Trump administration's demand that they end certain diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools or risk losing federal funding. A letter sent Friday to the federal Department of Education in response to the ultimatum says that the administration has...

Feds to Public Schools: Drop DEI or Lose Funding

'Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right'

(Newser) - Public schools that don't abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion policies could lose federal funding, the Department of Education warned in a letter Thursday to state officials—but it's not entirely clear which programs are still OK. The memo to officials overseeing K-12 schools included a certification letter to...

Black-Owned Brands Mull Making Products More Neutral

Black entrepreneurs are struggling as big retailers shut down their DEI initiatives

(Newser) - The co-founders of a company that makes lip products for darker skin tones no longer hope to get their line into Target. A brother and sister who make jigsaw puzzles celebrating Black subjects wonder if they need to offer "neutral" images like landscapes to keep growing. Pound Cake and...

Navajo Code Talkers Returned to Military Websites

Web pages had been removed as part of DEI crackdown

(Newser) - Some military web pages referencing the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans were restored Wednesday after tribes condemned their removal as part of the Trump administration's push to remove any and all content it deems DEI-adjacent. "In the rare cases that content is removed—either deliberately...

Columbia Chief 'Heartbroken' as DHS Agents Enter Dorms

Agents searched 2 student residences—and it's not the only university in the government's sights

(Newser) - As former Columbia University grad student Mahmoud Khalil fights the Trump administration's plans to deport him for his past pro-Palestine activism at the New York City institution, the school itself contended with more federal activity on campus this week. The New York Times reports that agents from the Department...

40-Day Boycott of Target Is Underway

Protest coinciding with Lent is over retailer's decision to curb DEI initiatives

(Newser) - A 40-day boycott of Target that calls for supporters to give up shopping at the company's stores during the Lenten period began this week to protest the retailer's decision to end some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of the New...

The Enola Gay Runs Afoul of Pentagon's DEI Purge

It's apparently a mistake because of the word 'gay'

(Newser) - A Pentagon purge of DEI content appears to have mistakenly flagged references to the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan because of the word "gay." Also among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion are references to a World...

SCOTUS in Rare Agreement on Discrimination Case

Conservative and liberal justices poised to rule in favor of heterosexual Ohio woman

(Newser) - The Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of an Ohio woman's job discrimination lawsuit, a development expected to make it easier for white, heterosexual workers to bring similar cases, reports the Washington Post . One unusual thing here: Based on Wednesday's arguments, both conservative and liberal justices...

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