Latest news with #DiversityEquityInclusion
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
20 NIH grants restored to UMass system after judge rules against Trump admin
Twenty grants from the National Institutes of Health previously awarded to the University of Massachusetts system will be restored after a Monday court order from a federal judge. U.S. District Court Judge William Young ordered the Trump administration to restore more than 360 NIH grants nationwide that were the subject of two lawsuits — one filed by affected individuals and industry organizations, the other by 16 state attorneys general, including Massachusetts. The restored grants are only a sliver of the NIH grant cancellations — 2,282 grants amounting to nearly $3.8 billion of lost funding as of June 4, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Young declared the cancellations 'illegal,' saying he had 'never seen government racial discrimination like this' in his 40 years on the bench. Many canceled grants were related to LGBTQ communities, racial minorities and other topics considered 'diversity, equity and inclusion' (or DEI) by the Trump administration. Read more: Federal judge orders Trump admin to reinstate hundreds of NIH grants The federal government now has the opportunity to appeal Young's initial order in the cases. As part of the Monday order, 20 grants are slated to be restored to the UMass system. Listed by grant awardee, they are: UMass Chan Medical School — 'Pathway to graduate study post-baccalaureate training program' UMass Lowell — 'Longitudinal Mechanisms of Food and Nutrition Security and Cardiometabolic Health in PROSPECT' UMass Chan Medical School — 'Structural Racism and Engagement of Family Caregivers in Serious Illness Care' UMass Boston — 'U54 Comprehensive Partnership for Cancer Disparities Research' University of Massachusetts — 'Optimizing an mHealth intervention to improve uptake and adherence of the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in vulnerable adolescents and emerging adults' University of Massachusetts — 'Applying Deep Learning for Predicting Retention in PrEP Care and Effective PrEP Use among Key Populations at Risk for HIV in Thailand' University of Massachusetts — 'Effect of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations on Behavioral Health Care Quality and Outcomes for Children' University of Massachusetts — 'Adapting Effective mHealth Interventions to Improve Uptake and Adherence to HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in Thai Young MSM' University of Massachusetts — 'Faithful Response II: COVID-19 Rapid Test-to-Treat with African American Churches' University of Massachusetts — 'Training the Long-Term Services and Supports Dementia Care Workforce in Provision of Care to Sexual and Gender Minority Residents' University of Massachusetts — 'Pathway to graduate study post-baccalaureate training program' University of Massachusetts — 'Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups with Rheumatic Diseases' University of Massachusetts — 'Regulated Proteolysis in Bacteria Development and Stress Response' University of Massachusetts — 'IRACDA at Tufts University' (postdoctoral training) University of Massachusetts — 'Deciphering the Molecular Features Underlying LRP1-Mediated Tau Spread (Diversity Supplement)' University of Massachusetts — 'Bacterial and Molecular Determinants of Mycobacterial Impermeability' University of Massachusetts — 'Initiative for Maximizing Student Development at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School' University of Massachusetts — 'Improving the Part C Early Intervention Service Delivery System for Children with ASD: A Randomized Clinical Trial (Diversity Supplement)' University of Massachusetts — 'ASHA Bangladesh — An Integrated Intervention to Address Depression in Low Income Rural Women' University of Massachusetts — 'Outlining Shadows of Structural Racism Using Publicly Available Social Determinants of Health Data' In a statement Monday night, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell called the court ruling 'a win for us all and a rebuke of the discriminatory actions carried out by this Administration. 'We won't let this Administration play politics with our public health or violate the law,' Campbell said. 'I look forward to seeing these federal funds restored to life-saving and critical health care and research.' A Harvard Medical School associate professor is also slated to see her canceled grants restored. Brittany Charlton, founding director of the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence, is one of the individual plaintiffs suing. Her NIH funding to study the mental health of young LGBTQ people was cut in March, affecting a team of 18 researchers and causing students to fear for their safety. As federal funding cuts hit Harvard, a private investment firm and other donors step up Trump admin asks court to rule against Harvard without a trial Federal judge orders Trump admin to reinstate hundreds of NIH grants Federal judge delays decision over Trump admin barring Harvard foreign students Harvard's Monday court date will be important for international students. Here's why Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘People didn't like women in space': how Sally Ride made history and paid the price
A week before Sally – a documentary about the first American woman to fly into space – landed at the Sundance film festival in January, Nasa employees received emails informing them how Donald Trump's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks would take effect. Contracts and offices associated with DEI programs were to be terminated. Staff were given Orwellian instruction to inform the government of any attempt to disguise inclusion efforts in 'coded or imprecise language'. In the weeks to follow, Nasa would take back its promise to send the first woman and person of color to the moon's surface. Meanwhile, employees are reported to be hiding their rainbow flags and any other expressions of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, allegedly because they were instructed to do so though Nasa denies those claims. 'The pride flag flew in space a couple years ago,' says Cristina Costantini, the director of Sally, on a Zoom call with the Guardian. 'Now all Nasa employees are being asked to take down any representations of pride.' Related: 'Absolutely shocking': Netflix documentary examines how the Titan sub disaster happened Costantini calls the developments sad, especially because such harmful silencing contributes to the very atmosphere that made her film's subject hide her own queer identity throughout her celebrated career. Sally Ride, who made history when she rode the space shuttle Challenger into the stars on 18 June 1983, was a lesbian. The public, and so many who knew Ride personally, only found out that part of her legacy after she died of cancer in 2012. Ride's obituary identified Tam O'Shaughnessy as her partner of 27 years. O'Shaughnessy is a key voice in Sally, a National Geographic documentary revisiting everything we thought we knew about Ride – from her astronomic accomplishments to the infuriating sexism she confronted at Nasa and in the media, with reporters questioning how she would dress, whether space travel would affect her ovaries and if she would buckle and cry in the face of daunting challenges. But now there's the extra dimension, the part of Ride kept tragically buried because of the institutionalized homophobia we see resurfacing today. 'We made this movie not thinking it was particularly controversial,' says Costantini. 'We had no idea it would be this relevant.' Costantini is speaking from her Los Angeles office in Atwater Village, a photo of a space shuttle and another of Ride on the Challenger mission hovering just behind her. The investigative reporter turned film-maker – who grew up wanting to be a scientist and made her feature debut co-directing the Sundance audience award winner Science Fair – describes Ride as a major influence on her life. She remembers researching the astronaut as a young child on an old Encarta Encyclopedia CD-Rom for a book report. In grade three, Costantini contributed to a class mural where the students in her Milwaukee school painted their heroes on a wall. Ride is drawn standing alongside Brett Favre and Michael Jordan – a small sampling of the heroes that fed childhood aspirations in the mid-90s, says Costantini. With Sally, Costantini is returning to her icon's story with a canvas bigger than either a book report or mural, but an even more challenging story to tell. 'The film is really two stories interwoven,' says Costantini. 'It's the public and the private Sally. The public Sally is so well-documented that it's a problem. We had to bring in 5,000 reels from the Nasa archive and sort through and sound sync all of them. That was a monumental task. 'And then the other task is the private story, maybe the more interesting story, which has no documentation at all. There are only five really good pictures of [Sally and her partner, Tam] together that we had. You can't build a love story out of showing people the same five pictures over and over again. For that we had to kind of invent our own cinematic romantic language.' Costantini's doc pairs narrations from O'Shaughnessy and others who were close to Ride with animation and 16mm visuals. They express the love, the excitement of first relationships, the heavy toll from keeping these feelings secret and the sting when Ride – whose noted emotional reserve is making more and more sense – would behave inexplicably. 'Sally is a very confusing central subject in some ways,' says Costantini, remarking on how Ride didn't always make for a picture-perfect feminist hero, the uneasiness going a long way to make her even more compelling. The director refers to a story recounted by fellow astronaut Kathryn Sullivan. During the race to become the first American woman to go to space, Ride sabotaged a Nasa exercise Sullivan was working on. Talking heads mull whether that was an example of Ride's prankster sense of humour, or a cutthroat competitive nature that flew in the face of female solidarity and sisterhood. 'She didn't leave tell all diaries or an audio journal of how she was feeling in every single moment. So we're left to interpret later on what her choices were, and why she did what she did.' Costantini also points to Ride's five-year marriage to fellow astronaut Steve Hawley. The union in retrospect can be seen as a betrayal of who she was, and the LGTBQ+ movement that she never publicly aligned with. But it was also a necessary and sacrificial career move to make her dream possible, deflecting any suspicions about sexual orientation while making Ride a more ideal candidate to make history and inspire young women. 'People didn't like women in space,' says Costantini. 'And they especially didn't like single women in space. Some of the male astronauts were, like: 'Well, it was a good look for her not to be single and in space.'' When Ride does climb above the atmosphere on her historic mission, there's a cathartic moment where the tense conflicts within her – or put upon her – are either resolved or abandoned, if only temporarily. Related: Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story review – dazzling glamour and true grit 'I loved being weightless,' says Ride, while in space, her recorded words packing new mean considering all the burdens we now understand. 'It's a feeling of freedom.' 'She escaped Earth's orbit – Earth's gravity – metaphorically too,' says Costantini, on that pivotal moment in American history and Ride's personal life. 'Looking at the Earth from space, she started to, for the first time, really think about the imaginary lines that we have. She was struck by the fact that all these countries have known borders around them. These are human constructions. As Tam says in the film, the lines between genders, the lines between race, the lines between countries, who we're allowed to love, those are meaningless constructs. 'Space was transformative for her. When she came back to Earth, she finally allowed herself to be who she really is, and love who she really loved.' Sally premieres on National Geographic on 16 June and is available on Hulu and Disney+ on 17 June
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Smithsonian rejects Trump's attempt to fire National Portrait Gallery director
The Smithsonian Institution has rebuffed Donald Trump's attempt to fire the director of its National Portrait Gallery, with the museum's governing board asserting its independence in a direct challenge to the president. In a statement issued after an emergency meeting Monday, the Smithsonian's board of regents declared that 'all personnel decisions are made by and subject to the direction of the secretary, with oversight by the board' – turning away Trump's claim of authority over the institution's staffing. The standoff centers on Kim Sajet, whom Trump announced he had fired on 30 May, calling her 'highly partisan and a strong supporter of DEI' – or diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – on social media. Sajet has continued reporting to work, creating a direct confrontation between the White House and the US's flagship cultural institution that has a 178-year-old governance structure built against political interference. The board backed secretary Lonnie Bunch, saying he 'has the support of the board of regents in his authority and management of the Smithsonian'. The statement also directed Bunch to ensure museum content remains 'unbiased' while maintaining that the Smithsonian 'must be a welcoming place of knowledge and discovery for all Americans'. The White House did not return a request for comment. The Smithsonian, which operates 21 museums and the National Zoo and attracts millions of visitors annually, represents America's largest museum and research complex. In March, Trump signed an executive order targeting 'anti-American ideology' at the museum system, claiming the institution had fallen 'under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology' and instructing Vance to remove 'improper ideology' from its museum system. Trump's attack on Sajet focused, among other reasons, on her Democratic political donations and her rejection of a pro-Trump painting by artist Julian Raven. Sajet reportedly told Raven his artwork was 'too pro-Trump' and 'too political' for the gallery, the artist told the Washingtonian in 2019. And unlike the Kennedy Center, which Trump successfully overhauled by installing himself as chairperson, the Smithsonian operates under a unique governance model with board members representing all three branches of government, including JD Vance, the vice-president, and John Roberts, the chief justice. The clash is all part of Trump's broader assault on cultural institutions. His administration has gutted the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities while proposing a 12% cut to the Smithsonian's budget, including complete elimination of funding for the Anacostia Community Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Trump's attempted cultural revolution has already devastated the Kennedy Center, according to the Washington Post, where ticket sales have plummeted about 36% since last year and artists have launched boycotts since his takeover. The president posted on social media there would be 'NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA' at the venue in May – though the father-disguised-as-nanny Mrs Doubtfire is scheduled to go on.
Fox News
09-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Johnson & Johnson denies engaging in illegal DEI practices after group makes civil rights complaint
Johnson & Johnson is denying any wrongdoing after being accused of violating federal law and a Trump executive order with DEI hiring practices, according to an investigation request submitted by America First Legal (AFL). "Johnson & Johnson has always been and will continue to be compliant with all applicable laws and has never engaged in any "illegal DEI,'" a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson told Fox News Digital. AFL is accusing Johnson & Johnson of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the federal government's Equal Opportunity Clause by engaging in what they claim is unlawful hiring and employment practices that they have openly promoted in past disclosures. The conservative legal watchdog is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to launch an investigation into the drugmaker, claiming the company's commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion violates federal law and affects every aspect of the business. "[Johnson & Johnson's] public representations regarding the role of 'equity' in its employment practices reveal that it systematically and intentionally ignores its compliance obligations and instead violates [their] equal opportunity assurances to the federal government," AFL wrote in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights. According to Johnson & Johnson's 2023 Health for Humanity Report, the company sought to have 50% of its management positions held by women and 6.8% of management slots held by Black and African American employees by 2025 as part of its "aspirational goals." The report pointed to its progress in achieving 49% women representation and 6.5% Black and African American representation in management slots as of 2023. "The Company's disregard for American civil rights is brazen. It boasts about 'creating equity across our systems and fostering and advancing a culture of inclusion,'" the AFL complaint said. A LinkedIn business post entitled "How Johnson & Johnson is building a diverse talent pipeline" claimed that the pharmaceutical giant uses data to monitor its talent goals and holds leaders in the company accountable to them. The article claims the diversity of the talent pool they are recruiting from is tracked as part of this data. "One of the measures we are starting to look at is, not just the readiness of the pipeline… but what does the diversity of that mix look like? In order to provide a score or an assessment of the strength of the pipeline," Johnson & Johnson executive Sarah McKensey said in a video interview that accompanied the article. The article said the purpose of providing such an assessment on the talent pipeline was to ensure that diversity becomes "a natural feature of the hiring landscape" and said the company also holds external recruiters accountable for the diversity of their talent pool. Johnson & Johnson's 2023 DEI Impact Report stated that its leaders are responsible for developing "diverse and inclusive teams" and its 2023 health and humanity report detailed how the company would partner with women's professional associations in order to achieve "parity" in management. Johnson & Johnson had 3,719 contracts in 2024 with the departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and other agencies, according to with $11.6 billion in potential total value. Upon taking office in 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning federal agencies from doing business with companies that engage in discriminatory DEI practices. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that "An unlawful employment or other hiring practice exists when race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is a motivating factor for any employment decision." Federal regulations state that federal agencies can cut off contracts from outfits that are not in compliance with the Civil Rights Act. The AFL claims the Biden administration shirked its responsibility to investigate whether companies in the medical space were in violation of the civil rights act, and is urging the Trump administration to act now. The company appears to have removed most of its DEI-related content from its public-facing website since Trump took office. The company's former DEI policy landing page, which once stated, "Johnson & Johnson and all its operating companies are committed to workforce diversity, creating equity across our systems, and fostering and advancing a culture of inclusion," now redirects to a more general appendix of ESG policies. The 2023 DEI impact report and the 2023 Health for Humanity report also redirect to the inclusion page. Another DEI landing page has been deleted and replaced with a more tepid "inclusion" page. However, AFL contends that the drugmaker is merely trying to conceal its ongoing DEI violations, and demands a federal investigation to uncover whether it is in compliance with the Civil Rights Act. "Until very recently, Johnson & Johnson proudly touted DEI policies on its website that AFL believes plainly violated the Civil Rights Act. Institutions across corporate America and academia are now taking steps to rebrand or conceal their unlawful DEI policies in order to evade detection and continue their discriminatory must investigate to determine whether Johnson & Johnson is still engaging in illegal discrimination and violating the Civil Rights Act," AFL Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Former University of Michigan president rejected for University of Florida's top job amid conservative backlash
St. Petersburg, Florida (AP) — Longtime academic Santa Ono was rejected Tuesday for the University of Florida presidency by the state university system board amid sharp criticism from political conservatives about his past support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other initiatives they view as unacceptable liberal ideology. The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state's universities, voted 10-6 against Ono, who was most recently president of the University of Michigan. The University of Florida Board of Trustees had voted unanimously in May to approve Ono as the school's 14th president, and it is unprecedented for the governors to reverse such an action. Now the search will start all over. Ono's proposed contract included a number of ideological requirements, such as how well he stopped programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. He was to cooperate with Gov. Ron DeSantis' Office of Government Efficiency — similar to the office created by President Donald Trump — and appoint other university officials and deans who are 'firmly aligned' with Florida's approach. Several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono before the vote over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts, gender ideology and DEI programs at the University of Michigan and his previous academic positions. These actions, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said on the X social platform, show 'he is willing to appease and prioritize far-left activists over ensuring students are protected and receive a quality education.' Others raising objections include Donald Trump Jr. and Florida GOP U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds, Greg Steube and Jimmy Patronis. Donalds is a Republican candidate for governor. Writing in Inside Higher Ed, Ono said he supported DEI initiatives at first because they aim was 'equal opportunity and fairness for every student.' 'But over time, I saw how DEI became something else — more about ideology, division and bureaucracy, not student success,' Ono wrote, adding that he eventually limited DEI offices at Michigan. 'I believe in Florida's vision for higher education.' DeSantis, a Republican who has pushed reforms in higher education to eliminate what he calls 'woke' policies such as DEI, did not take a public stand on Ono but did say at a recent news conference that some of his statements made the governor 'cringe.' Ono faced similar pointed questions at Tuesday's meeting — especially from former Republican state House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva — leading board member Charles Lydecker to object to the procedure. 'We have never used this as a forum to interrogate. This is not a court of law. Candidly, this process does not seem fair to me,' Lydecker said. Oliva, however, questioned how to square Ono's many past statements about hot-button cultural issues with his more conservative stance now that he sought the Florida job. 'Now we are told to believe you are now abandoning an entire ideological architecture,' Oliva said. 'We are asking someone to lead our flagship university. I don't understand how it becomes unfair.' Steube, writing on X, praised the board for its decision. 'Great news for my alma mater and the state of Florida! The Board of Governors heard us loud and clear: Santa Ono was the wrong choice for UF,' the congressman said. Ono was to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school's temporary, interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he had represented Nebraska, to become the university's president in 2023. Sasse announced in July he was leaving the job after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy. Later reports surfaced that Sasse gave six former staffers and two former Republican officials jobs with salaries that outstripped comparable positions and spent over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions in his first year on the job. Ono is also the former president of the University of British Columbia and the University of Cincinnati.
