Latest news with #diversity
CNN
2 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: Trump has weaponized the government to replace ‘wokeness' with his version of diversity
A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. It's not news that the government is using withheld federal funds, the threat of blocked mergers and other strong-arm tactics to exploit pressure points and impose President Donald Trump's version of diversity on the country. It is new that the efforts are yielding results. In higher education: The Department of Justice has transformed its Civil Rights Division into a strike team against what it views as unwarranted and illegal diversity efforts in higher education. In private enterprise: The Federal Communications Commission approved a $6 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance only after in-writing promises to dismantle diversity initiatives. In the media: That Paramount merger also hinged on commitments that CBS News' 'reporting will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based.' Given the furor raised by Trump and others over '60 Minutes,' the implication is that there will be changes. Read CNN's full report. Just as its parent company was agreeing to a diversity of opinions in programming, CBS also, coincidentally, cited financial losses to cancel 'The Late Show' with Trump critic Stephen Colbert, who called Paramount's settling of a lawsuit with Trump related to '60 Minutes' a 'big fat bribe.' In sports: There's no evidence yet that Trump is willing to follow through on his threat to hold up a new stadium for Washington's football team, now called the Commanders, unless owners revert to calling it the Redskins. The team has rejected the idea. Then again, pre-season camps are just now underway and Trump has been out of the country. But promoting religion is encouraged. At the same time it is clamping down on racial and gender diversity efforts, the administration is changing policy to allow and even encourage federal workers to share their religious views with colleagues and even proselytize at work, as long as it's not harassment. Read CNN's report. The Trump administration's efforts to change higher education have used billions in federal funding for research and more — money on which universities, their faculties and the scientific community rely — to extract policy concessions. Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million over three years in exchange for the reinstatement of federal funding. But it also agreed, among many other things, to end diversity initiatives, crack down on mask-wearing protesters, and much more, including the hiring of specific new faculty in the Jewish studies department. Harvard, according to a New York Times report, is also open to a settlement, but could fork over up to $500 million to avoid its current court battle with the Trump administration. The Times did not report on specific terms of the potential deal and whether it could include diversity initiatives, but the government's complaint against Harvard was brought under the Civil Rights Act. It's possible the administration sees a template here. Most colleges in the country are not in compliance with the Supreme Court's decision banning affirmative action, according to Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. 'There's 6,000 institutions of higher education in the United States and I have reason to believe that most of them are out of compliance with students for fair admissions,' she told CNN's Jake Tapper last month. Dhillon appeared on the show to talk about the pressure campaign from the Justice Department over admission policies that led to the resignation of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. Dhillon welcomed his departure because, she said, Ryan built his career around building diversity when DEI was 'the academic vogue… now it isn't.' 'To me, the promise of America is equal opportunity for every individual, not groups or group think,' she told Tapper. Since then, her division has opened investigations into the University of California and George Mason University, a public university in Virginia. The FCC, the organization that wrought concessions for the Skydance and Paramount merger, has also launched investigations into the DEI practices of other companies with news divisions, including Comcast, which owns NBC, and Disney, which owns ABC, specifically looking at their diversity policies. When Trump targeted federal funding for NPR and PBS, he accused them of 'woke propaganda.' He signed legislation pushed by Republicans on Capitol Hill to claw back previously appropriated funds for public broadcasting, but the cuts are likely to hit local stations in rural areas hardest. Trump has been reluctant to pursue any sort of regulation for AI, but he did issue an executive action that aims to make sure the federal government only interacts with AI models that scrub DEI, which is ironic since a major problem identified in AI is that it relies on inputs from humans and has been shown, at times, to be racist and antisemitic. Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, a Republican, has said he'll give teachers moving to Oklahoma from other states a test to guarantee they won't push ideology he disagrees with. 'You're not going to come in here and teach that there's 27 genders. There's boys and girls. That's in our science standards,' Walters told state school board members, according to The Oklahoman. 'You're going to come in, and you're not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American, anti-Semitic hate.' The test is being developed in collaboration with PragerU, which makes conservative education videos and which was also behind a recent set of videos released by the White House in which Founding Fathers are made to speak via CGI. (Walters, meanwhile, is facing questions and an investigation into why images of naked women were seen on his office television during a board meeting.) Amy Sherald, the artist behind a stunning portrait of Michelle Obama in the National Portrait Gallery canceled her planned solo show at the National Portrait Gallery, according to the New York Times, when she was told her painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty might run afoul of Trump's skepticism of anything trans-related. Put that in the same category as Trump's takeover of the board that oversees the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Republicans want to rename the opera house after first lady Melania Trump. While the pressure is real and widespread, it has not snuffed out criticism of Trump himself. South Park, whose parent company falls under the Paramount-Skydance merger, ran its delayed Season 27 premiere, according to CNN's report, 'around the ending of 'wokeness'' and a Trump character suing residents of South Park for $5 billion after they protest Jesus appearing in local schools.'
CNN
2 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: Trump has weaponized the government to replace ‘wokeness' with his version of diversity
A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. It's not news that the government is using withheld federal funds, the threat of blocked mergers and other strong-arm tactics to exploit pressure points and impose President Donald Trump's version of diversity on the country. It is new that the efforts are yielding results. In higher education: The Department of Justice has transformed its Civil Rights Division into a strike team against what it views as unwarranted and illegal diversity efforts in higher education. In private enterprise: The Federal Communications Commission approved a $6 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance only after in-writing promises to dismantle diversity initiatives. In the media: That Paramount merger also hinged on commitments that CBS News' 'reporting will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based.' Given the furor raised by Trump and others over '60 Minutes,' the implication is that there will be changes. Read CNN's full report. Just as its parent company was agreeing to a diversity of opinions in programming, CBS also, coincidentally, cited financial losses to cancel 'The Late Show' with Trump critic Stephen Colbert, who called Paramount's settling of a lawsuit with Trump related to '60 Minutes' a 'big fat bribe.' In sports: There's no evidence yet that Trump is willing to follow through on his threat to hold up a new stadium for Washington's football team, now called the Commanders, unless owners revert to calling it the Redskins. The team has rejected the idea. Then again, pre-season camps are just now underway and Trump has been out of the country. But promoting religion is encouraged. At the same time it is clamping down on racial and gender diversity efforts, the administration is changing policy to allow and even encourage federal workers to share their religious views with colleagues and even proselytize at work, as long as it's not harassment. Read CNN's report. The Trump administration's efforts to change higher education have used billions in federal funding for research and more — money on which universities, their faculties and the scientific community rely — to extract policy concessions. Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million over three years in exchange for the reinstatement of federal funding. But it also agreed, among many other things, to end diversity initiatives, crack down on mask-wearing protesters, and much more, including the hiring of specific new faculty in the Jewish studies department. Harvard, according to a New York Times report, is also open to a settlement, but could fork over up to $500 million to avoid its current court battle with the Trump administration. The Times did not report on specific terms of the potential deal and whether it could include diversity initiatives, but the government's complaint against Harvard was brought under the Civil Rights Act. It's possible the administration sees a template here. Most colleges in the country are not in compliance with the Supreme Court's decision banning affirmative action, according to Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. 'There's 6,000 institutions of higher education in the United States and I have reason to believe that most of them are out of compliance with students for fair admissions,' she told CNN's Jake Tapper last month. Dhillon appeared on the show to talk about the pressure campaign from the Justice Department over admission policies that led to the resignation of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. Dhillon welcomed his departure because, she said, Ryan built his career around building diversity when DEI was 'the academic vogue… now it isn't.' 'To me, the promise of America is equal opportunity for every individual, not groups or group think,' she told Tapper. Since then, her division has opened investigations into the University of California and George Mason University, a public university in Virginia. The FCC, the organization that wrought concessions for the Skydance and Paramount merger, has also launched investigations into the DEI practices of other companies with news divisions, including Comcast, which owns NBC, and Disney, which owns ABC, specifically looking at their diversity policies. When Trump targeted federal funding for NPR and PBS, he accused them of 'woke propaganda.' He signed legislation pushed by Republicans on Capitol Hill to claw back previously appropriated funds for public broadcasting, but the cuts are likely to hit local stations in rural areas hardest. Trump has been reluctant to pursue any sort of regulation for AI, but he did issue an executive action that aims to make sure the federal government only interacts with AI models that scrub DEI, which is ironic since a major problem identified in AI is that it relies on inputs from humans and has been shown, at times, to be racist and antisemitic. Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, a Republican, has said he'll give teachers moving to Oklahoma from other states a test to guarantee they won't push ideology he disagrees with. 'You're not going to come in here and teach that there's 27 genders. There's boys and girls. That's in our science standards,' Walters told state school board members, according to The Oklahoman. 'You're going to come in, and you're not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American, anti-Semitic hate.' The test is being developed in collaboration with PragerU, which makes conservative education videos and which was also behind a recent set of videos released by the White House in which Founding Fathers are made to speak via CGI. (Walters, meanwhile, is facing questions and an investigation into why images of naked women were seen on his office television during a board meeting.) Amy Sherald, the artist behind a stunning portrait of Michelle Obama in the National Portrait Gallery canceled her planned solo show at the National Portrait Gallery, according to the New York Times, when she was told her painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty might run afoul of Trump's skepticism of anything trans-related. Put that in the same category as Trump's takeover of the board that oversees the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Republicans want to rename the opera house after first lady Melania Trump. While the pressure is real and widespread, it has not snuffed out criticism of Trump himself. South Park, whose parent company falls under the Paramount-Skydance merger, ran its delayed Season 27 premiere, according to CNN's report, 'around the ending of 'wokeness'' and a Trump character suing residents of South Park for $5 billion after they protest Jesus appearing in local schools.'
Fast Company
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Namrata Tripathi has mastered the ‘power sari'
'Hybridity has always been central to who I am,' says Namrata Tripathi, the founder and publisher of Kokila, an imprint at Penguin Random House for children and young adults that highlights voices historically marginalized by publishing. Being Odia and Punjabi Sikh, Ms. Tripathi grew up in an Indian home that blended two distinct aesthetics, cultures, religions, and languages. Because her parents were both diplomats for India, her family also moved frequently. She was born in Moscow, but she then lived in Afghanistan, India, Canada, Pakistan, Germany, and Poland before moving to New York to attend university. 'I think of myself very much as a professional alien,' she says. 'And I think the power in that is in adapting to my environment, but never erasing myself.' When she first entered the American corporate world, she observed what clothing was deemed appropriate, but she always questioned what power and leadership look like. For her, the answer involves the sari, which she saw her mother wear to work every day when she was growing up. 'I thought: One day I'm going to do that. And then I thought: Well, what day am I waiting for? ' Around 10 years ago, she felt confident enough to start wearing 'power saris,' as her colleagues now refer to them, to the office for big meetings, and then more regularly. Previously, she'd only worn saris to formal work events, such as the National Book Awards and galas, 'because they are beautiful, and I was excited to wear them.' Sometimes, she'd wear saris her mother passed down to her, and she was often the only person in the room wearing non-Western clothing. One time, when she wore a churidar kurta, which consists of a tunic and trousers that bunch at the bottom, a well-intentioned colleague pulled her aside to tell her that her pants were too long. 'At first, I did it to connect with my mother and her mother, whose saris I also sometimes wear, but over time, I saw how it influenced other people, too,' she says. 'I had young people from various cultural backgrounds in the company comment on the pieces I'd worn, and I realized how impactful it had been to them, and how it reinforced the idea that the body is political. I'm interested in a different kind of leadership, and this is a way to show it. I like that it sends a message to people who aren't often in the room that I'm trying to bring them into it.' Describe your style in a sentence. Mera joota hai Japani, yeh patloon Englistani, sar pe lal topi Russi, phir bhi dil hai Hindustani. What's the one piece in your closet you'll never get rid of? An oversized white button-down because I've always loved menswear. How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning? Tying a sari takes me about two minutes. Managing my hair can be . . . a process. What do you wear to a big meeting? Always a sari. (A 'power sari' if you ask my team.) What's the best piece of fashion advice you've ever gotten? Don't ever try to hide yourself. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
DOJ to review staff texts, emails after faculty praise of GMU president
In a move critics say shows a new and deeper level of scrutiny into a college's operations, the Justice Department sent a letter to George Mason University saying it planned to review a Faculty Senate resolution that praised the school's president, Gregory Washington, who has come under scrutiny from the Trump administration over his diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The Justice Department letter singled out a line from the resolution — which was stated as a fact, not as a policy supported by the faculty — that referred to a 2022 university goal to achieve 'faculty and staff demographics that mirror student demographics.' 'This statement is concerning as it indicates the GMU Faculty Senate is praising President Washington for engaging in race- or sex-motivated hiring decisions to achieve specific demographic outcomes among faculty and staff,' read the Friday letter, obtained by The Washington Post, from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon to the head of the board and the board's lawyer. She warned the school's board in the letter that those alleged hiring practices are unlawful and could result in 'extensive' fines for the university. She asked the head of George Mason's Board of Visitors to take steps to preserve 'all written communications (including emails, texts, voice mails and other forms of electronic communications) between any Faculty Senate members or between Faculty Senate members and President Washington or any members of his Office's staff.' The letter comes as the Trump administration is conducting four investigations, which were announced in the span of four weeks, into Virginia's largest public university over its DEI practices and its alleged failure to combat antisemitism on campus, including into its alleged consideration of race in the hiring and promotion of some faculty members. Some at GMU see the growing number of investigations as an effort to oust Washington, the school's first Black president, following the resignation of University of Virginia President James E. Ryan, who left his post last month amid mounting pressure from the Justice Department. Faculty senates — representative bodies of a university's faculty that meet to discuss and opine on a college's operations — often pass resolutions supporting or criticizing policies of university leaders. But it is rare for a presidential administration to weigh in on faculty senate operations in this way. The letter landed as the Trump administration continues efforts to reshape higher education by launching investigations and threatening federal funding cuts to achieve its policy goals. Last week, Columbia University agreed to a resolution with the administration, paying more than $200 million to settle discrimination claims, including over alleged antisemitism. 'This is a piece of a larger pattern from the administration essentially looking for provocations on campus,' said Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. 'Instead of seeking a way to defuse it and seek common ground, it looks like the GMU Faculty Senate opted to double down, and DOJ is firing back.' Hess said that, while he could not recall a similar letter being sent elsewhere, it's possible the Trump administration could have done so without public knowledge. The Justice Department declined to comment beyond the letter. Torridon Law, the firm representing the GMU board, referred questions to a July 25 Board of Visitors statement in which the body said it would comply fully with the Departments of Education and Justice. The Northern Virginia university, which began as a commuter school and now boasts some 40,000 students, has an acceptance rate of about 90 percent. Its Antonin Scalia Law School and its economics program are known as some of the most conservative in their respective fields, and a number of its current and former board members have worked at or have connections with the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025. As president, Washington created an anti-racism task force in 2020 and has praised some DEI programs. He has since defended his policies and said the school was meeting requirements of federal mandates. Some supporters of Washington, including George Mason faculty members, denounced the Justice Department's letter, saying the department took the resolution out of context and was attacking free speech. The resolution was passed a day before department officials sent the letter. Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said in a statement that, while 'conservatives have been demanding academic freedom for years,' it now appears that they are acting as 'thought police' and trying to 'flex control over our Virginia educational crown jewels.' Faculty Senate President Solon Simmons said in an interview with The Post that he hoped the letter was not an attempt to silence faculty members — a worry he said he has heard from some professors — and was merely the result of a misunderstanding of the faculty's role in setting policies. 'We have no institutional force in the university beyond our moral suasion,' he said. 'They are letting us know they are paying attention, and we are taking it very seriously. I think it's important that faculty maintain their voice and don't feel intimidated by this process.' The Faculty Senate resolution had two sections. In the 'whereas' section, the faculty noted a 2013 university plan that said 'Diversity is our strength' and committed the college to 'invest in recruiting, retaining and developing talented and diverse faculty and academic and professional staff.' It said Washington successfully achieved the goals he was hired to pursue; called the Trump administration's investigations into GMU a 'politically motivated attack, similar to those we have seen elsewhere'; and said 'evidence, truth, and due process should be the foundation for all decisions, not allegations that have not been fully investigated.' In the second part, the Faculty Senate 'resolved' that it affirmed the 2013 plan's provisions regarding diversity, declared confidence in Washington's leadership, and called on the board to provide the 'strongest defense possible' of Washington and to commit to a fair and transparent annual review, which is scheduled to occur Friday at the board's meetings. The George Mason chapter of the American Association of University Professors is calling on its supporters to pack that meeting. In an unsigned statement, the group said it is worried the board, which is made up solely of members appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), could point to the investigations and inquiries from the Trump administration as justification to give Washington a poor performance evaluation at best — and fire him at worst. 'We believe these investigations are nothing more than a thin pretext to attack and remove current GMU President Gregory Washington,' the group wrote.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer appoints diversity tsar to advise on knighthoods
Sir Keir Starmer has appointed a diversity tsar to make sure the honours system reflects the 'full richness' of British society. Moni Mannings, the founder of a network that aims to empower people of colour, will head a new committee tasked with ensuring that honours are handed to people 'from all walks of life'. Announcing her appointment on Monday, the Cabinet Office said she would help deliver an honours system that was 'representative of the United Kingdom'. Ms Mannings, a qualified solicitor, received an OBE for services to cultural philanthropy, business and charity last year. She is the founder of EPOC, a network that seeks to boost the number of people of colour on company boards. She currently serves on the board of the Co-operative Group, whose supermarkets decided to stop sourcing goods from Israel earlier this year after identifying it as one of 17 'countries of concern'. The list, which also featured Iran, included places where the company believed there to be 'internationally recognised' human rights abuses and violations of international law. At the time, Debbie White, who chairs the Co-op board, said the policy was a 'clear demonstration of our co-operative values in action, where the voices of our members have been listened to and then acted upon'. 'We are committed, where we can, to removing products and ingredients from our shelves which are sourced from those countries where the international consensus demonstrates there is not alignment with what happens in those countries and our co-operative values and principles,' she said. The new honours, diversity and outreach committee will include a member of each of the 10 existing expert panels that recommend people for gongs in specialist areas such as sport, education and political service. The idea is to help these committees deliver an honours system that is 'representative of UK society' through a programme of 'policy improvements and interventions'. The diversity and outreach committee's work will be 'guided by the Prime Minister's strategic priorities for the honours system', with the members advising 'how these are reflected in each honours list '. Ms Mannings will serve as its independent chair for five years, with her term ending in July 2030. In a statement, she said: 'I am delighted to accept my appointment as the independent chair of this new committee. 'The honours system is one of our nation's most visible mechanisms not only for celebrating individual contribution but also of promoting our society's values. 'Recognising excellence from all walks of life isn't just a symbolic act – it is how we tell our national story. I would be privileged to play a role in ensuring that the honours system reflects and celebrates the full richness of our society.'
