Latest news with #LauraD'Agostino
Fox News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Indiana high school sports conference facing pressure to end DEI quotas
A legal firm and an activist group are pressuring the Indiana High School Athletics Association (IHSAA) board of directors, urging it to get rid of two DEI quotas for board members. The current criteria for the board's members includes a requirement for two female members and two members who are racial minorities. "The Board of Directors shall be comprised of nineteen board seats. Twelve board seats shall be filled by any qualified individual (open seats), and seven board seats shall be filled by Two (2) qualified female representatives, Two (2) qualified minorities," the policy states. Now, the law firm, Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), and the activist group, Equal Protection Project (EPP), have sent a letter to the IHSAA board of directors, objecting to this criteria and demanding change. "No one should be denied the opportunity to serve on a public board due to their race or sex. Our Constitution and civil rights law demand that individuals be judged on their character, qualifications, and achievements, not on characteristics they cannot control. IHSAA has a constitutional duty to treat all Board of Director nominees equally under the law," part of the letter reads. "Race- and sex-based quotas like those used by IHSAA perpetuate stereotypes, patronize the qualified, and undermine the ability of other qualified citizens to serve their communities. We strongly urge this Board to reconsider its use of these unconstitutional quotas." Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Laura D'Agostino condemned the IHSAA's criteria. "Public boards should reflect the talents and commitment of all citizens, not arbitrary categories of race or sex. Every individual who wants to step up and serve their community should be encouraged to do so based on what they bring to the table, not held back because of who they are," D'Agostino told Fox News Digital. PLF and EPP ended the letter by providing a deadline of May 30 for the IHSAA to respond with an agreement to remove those two requirements for its board of directors. EPP founder William A. Jacobson suggested further legal steps could be taken if the deadline passes with no agreement. "We hope that IHSAA will do the right thing and voluntarily remedy the discriminatory bylaws provisions, but if it does not, all legal options are on the table," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital has reached out to the IHSAA for comment. Recent executive orders by President Donald Trump have targeted DEI in both public institutions and the private sector, and many states have passed their own laws to prohibit DEI quotas in taxpayer-funded organizations. Trump's day one executive order, which the GSA is aligning its actions with, directed the federal contracting process to "be streamlined to enhance speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil-rights laws." The order also commanded the Office of Federal Contract Compliance to "immediately cease" promoting "diversity" and any encouragement of federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in affirmative action-like efforts that consider race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion or national origin when making hiring decisions. Meanwhile, in Indiana, a state bill authored by Republican Sens. Tyler Johnson and Gary Byrne to outlaw "discrimination" in state education, public employment and licensing settings that is "based on a personal characteristic of the person," was signed by Gov. Mike Braun on May 1. Braun signed an executive order in January to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion in all state agencies and replace it with what he calls "MEI" – merit, excellence and innovation. Under that executive order, government offices cannot use state funds, property or resources to support DEI initiatives or require job candidates to issue DEI statements. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Panel OKs proposed removal of racial and gender quotas for Arkansas boards and commissions
Laura D'Agostino (left), equality and opportunity attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, expresses support for House Bill 1365, sponsored by Rep. Karilyn Brown (right), R-Sherwood, before the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Monday, March 3, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas legislative panel revived a debate over whether government entities should consider race, gender or other characteristics or experiences before approving a previously failed bill Monday. House Bill 1365 would remove race and gender quotas and qualifications from a variety of state boards, councils and commissions, altering 22 sections of state law. Bill sponsor Rep. Karilyn Brown, R-Sherwood, and attorney Laura D'Agostino said current requirements to have minimum numbers of women and racial minorities on the panels are unfair. Boards, councils and commissions that would no longer be required to have Black, Hispanic, female or other historically underrepresented members include: The State Board of Education The Arkansas Ethics Commission The Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy The Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap in Arkansas The State Athletic Commission The Arkansas Financial Education Commission The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System Board of Trustees The Arkansas Tobacco Control Board D'Agostino, who is based in Virginia and works for the California law firm Pacific Legal Foundation, said Arkansas could be vulnerable to lawsuits for unequal treatment of its citizens as the law currently stands. 'People are so complex and different that it's extremely demeaning to say, 'Well, if you're of this racial perspective or if you're a woman, you're automatically going to bring a diverse perspective,'' D'Agostino said. '…The government should not be in a position to use racial classifications to either think that it knows better than its own people or to tell people that it's being culturally responsive because it's assuming that people [in the same group] have the same perspectives.' Brown and D'Agostino repeatedly said passing HB 1365 will increase, not decrease, opportunities for all Arkansans. Their arguments were similar to those of the sponsors of Act 116 of 2025, originally Senate Bill 3, which became law in February after much debate in both chambers. Act 116 will 'prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment' by public entities and eliminate required minority recruitment and retention plans and reports from public school districts and higher education institutions. The law's Republican sponsors, Rep. Mary Bentley of Perryville and Sen. Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro, said it will prioritize merit over demographics. HB 1365 'seems much more straightforward and narrowly tailored than SB 3,' said Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle. Ray was one of 13 of the 20 members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs who voted for HB 1365, while the panel's three Democrats were the only members to vote against it. The committee failed to pass the bill when it was first heard Feb. 12, since several members were absent, and the bill received nine votes for it when at least 11 were needed. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is responsible for appointing people to most boards and commissions, and D'Agostino and Ray both said any governor who does not consider a range of experiences among Arkansans when making appointments will be accountable to the voters. No members of the public spoke for or against HB 1365 Monday, but committee discussion lasted more than an hour before the vote. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, noted that the Arkansas House in decades past was entirely composed of white men. 'I think that the Legislatures of the past, who realized the errors we made in over-erring on the the side of letting the old boys' network run its course, realized that there's value in having people who look different and have different backgrounds in the room making decisions, especially when we're talking about things like minority health [and] closing the achievement gap,' Collins said. Rep. Denise Ennett, also a Little Rock Democrat, said her constituents who are racial minorities have told her for years that they've had trouble being appointed to state boards and commissions on which they want to serve. She said this highlighted the need to keep the racial quotas as they are. Brown insisted that 'diversity occurs naturally' and the state should not codify language that 'makes things more awkward or more difficult to fill positions.' 'With all due respect, I think this language came about because diversity wasn't happening naturally,' said Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville. Clowney repeated her statement from the committee's Act 116 debate that she had yet to hear concrete examples of harm resulting from the state's current laws focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. D'Agostino said Pacific Legal Foundation once represented a white man in Arkansas who sought appointment to the state Social Work Licensing Board but could not be appointed because of the requirement for minority members. She said the lawsuit became moot after Sanders signed Act 254 of 2023, which removed the board's requirement that at least two of its nine members be African American. Act 254 passed both chambers of the Legislature with solely Republican support. HB 1365 will next go to the full House for consideration.
