As corporate America continues to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion schemes, Microsoft is doubling down on race-based hiring and pay policies — and a watchdog group is sounding the alarm.
Consumers’ Research, a non-profit that works to “educate and protect consumers,” is sending out a “woke alert” to warn consumers of the tech giant’s campaigns to push far-left ideologies, even as other corporations ditch the ideological agenda.
“Despite many companies distancing themselves from woke ideology, Microsoft continues to double down on its radical agenda,” the Consumers’ Research Executive Director, Will Hild, told The Daily Wire. “From promoting divisive DEI policies and harmful gender ideology targeting children, to advancing a politically charged climate crusade, Microsoft has made one thing clear: it prioritizes activism over innovation.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-axes-dei-programs-in-the-lead-up-to-trumps-inauguration?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=146&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Meta+Axes+DEI+Programs+In+The+Lead-Up+To+Trump%E2%80%99s+Inauguration">Meta</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-walks-back-dei-initiatives-changes-disclaimers-on-classic-films">Disney</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/target-rolls-back-dei-joining-other-major-companies-like-walmart-meta">Walmart</a>, and other major corporations have stepped back from their radical DEI policies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s re-election. Not so Microsoft, whose Chief Diversity Officer <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/doing-work-intention-inclusion-impact-lindsay-rae-mcintyre-cvg4c/?trackingId=S3Le8KssrO0uhupaH0qc8A%3D%3D">wrote</a> in December that the company&#8217;s &#8220;diversity and inclusion work is more important than ever.”
Just two months earlier, the diversity officer wrote in a <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/10/23/microsofts-2024-global-diversity-inclusion-report-our-most-global-transparent-report-yet/">DEI report</a> that “if ever there were a critical time for the business case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it is now.” That report featured a section on “pay equity” comparing the average salaries of employees by their race and gender, irrespective of the roles that are held across the different demographic groups.
Microsoft says its goal is to increase the number of women and non-white employees in leadership roles, in part to ensure a leveling of any pay gaps.
“As we continue to increase representation for women and racial and ethnic minority groups at more senior levels, and continue to ensure pay equity for all,” the report reads, with the Vice President of Global Compensation Mike Cyran adding that “any pay gaps indicate opportunities to increase representation at more senior levels.”
“Microsoft seems to be implying diversity metrics should be a main factor in salaries, rather than professional performance and merit,” Consumers’ Research says in its woke alert.
Microsoft’s commitment to DEI policies — especially those that could be used to engineer specific demographic balances within various roles — may place the tech giant on a collision course with the Trump administration. Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1388501/dl?inline">author a report</a> on actions that the federal agency could take to enforce civil rights law to “investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector.”
Microsoft has already taken an oppositional posture against the administration and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3398418/microsoft-support-europe-hires-anti-trump-law-firm/">threatened to sue</a> it amid tariff negotiations between the United States and Europe.
The company’s 2023 DEI report appeared to indicate that Microsoft pays white employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/microsoft-brags-that-it-pays-white-employees-less-than-non-white-employees-despite-same-job-title">less than</a> non-white employees, often for performing the same job.
“All racial and ethnic minority groups who are rewards eligible combined earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by US rewards-eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure,” the report said.
The company also maintains an “<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/inclusion-journey/library">inclusion journey library</a>” with videos on “allyship,” “inclusive perspectives,” and how to fight implicit bias. The library, Microsoft says, can be used for “re-learning past behaviors and approaches to constantly improve our self-awareness and adopt inclusive behaviors.”
Microsoft’s left-wing agenda has seeped out from its workplace and into its products. The company <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/articles/2024/06/xbox-pride-2024/#:~:text=Since%202019%2C%20Xbox%20and%20its,head%20over%20to%20Xbox%20Wire.">partnered</a> with the Trevor Project in 2019, an organization that advocates for child transgenderism, to create “more inclusive” video games.
In 2024, the company <a href="https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/31/xbox-pride-2024/">boasted</a> that one of its video games “allows players to romance and marry characters regardless of their gender,” while another “tells the story of Tyler, a transgender man, with sensitivity and depth.” A third “features openly LGBTQIA+ characters.”
The Trevor Project, which runs an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schools-across-u-s-push-kids-to-chatrooms-where-they-can-talk-transgenderism-with-lgbtq-adults">online chat platform</a> where children can talk to adults about transgenderism and their sexual identity, is just one of the far-left LGBT organizations that Microsoft has bankrolled. The company and its employees have dropped more than $16 million to “organizations that support LGBTQIA+ communities.”
Hild says that it is time for the tech giant to drop its left-wing agenda.
“As if subjecting millions of people to Microsoft Teams wasn&#8217;t bad enough, the tech giant has become a megaphone for left-wing politics,” Hild said. “It’s time for Microsoft to get back to what&#8217;s made it successful — rolling out poorly conceived products, full of bugs, with annoying features no one wants, and using their monopoly status to force it on the world.”

Microsoft Building

Woke Alert! Microsoft Slammed For Race-Based ‘Pay Equity’ Scheme

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Microsoft

Wokeness

It’s not an exaggeration to say that conservative shareholder engagement is changing the corporate game. For years, Left-wing activists controlled the agendas at our largest companies, using not only their leverage as stockholders but their perpetual devotion to activism to get in the ear of America’s boards and directors. The result? Leftward drift in virtually every major company. But now conservative shareholders, from ordinary investors to major conservative nonprofits, are stepping into the game — and their engagements are bearing major fruit. The latest proof? IBM.
IBM’s track record on corporate bias and activism is notorious. The company was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a group created by the World Federation of Advertisers that worked to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-daily-wire-addresses-the-ad-industry-following-the-fall-of-garm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">keep ad revenue away</a> from conservative news sites like the Daily Wire to free speech-centric platforms like X. And that’s before all the DEI concerns surfaced. After IBM CEO Arvind Krishna was caught on a <a href="https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1734374423124176944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1734374423124176944%7Ctwgr%5E42e55266e59ec08d85550be6ab044097866bd072%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdallasexpress.com%2Fbusiness-markets%2Fceo-of-tech-corp-ibm-enshrines-dei-hiring%2F">hot mic</a> discussing how the company uses quotas of ‘underrepresented’ minorities in determining their executive pay — in Krishna’s words, execs have “got to move both [race and gender] forward by a percentage point” in order to get a higher bonus. That means DEI. That means quotas. Following these snafus, the reputational, ethical, and (in the case of the Missouri AG who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/missouri-attorney-general-sues-tech-giant-ibm-alleging-discrimination-against-whites-asians-men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> IBM) legal scrutiny was swift in coming.
IBM’s motto since its early years has been “THINK,” referring to the innovative spirit with which the company solves problems. Yet when it came to political bias, that motto was missing in action — and shareholders took notice. In January, the firm I work for, Bowyer Research, began <a href="https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-expands-efforts-hold-corporate-america-accountable-end-its-discriminatory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">work</a> with the Heritage Foundation to hold IBM accountable for the DEI quotas that Krishna described. The argument? Simple — use of non-meritocratic quotas based on race and gender aren’t just bad for reputation, but illegal on their face and bad for business. Shareholders, from major nonprofits to ordinary mom-and-pop investors, shouldn’t have their business returns impacted by IBM’s belief in identity politics.
As the shareholder engagement heated up on the internal front, pressure from <a href="https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5515346/the-ibm-red-hat-leaks-what-weve-learned-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">journalists</a> and <a href="https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1910425361034383545" target="_blank" rel="noopener">influencers</a> like Robby Starbuck increased on the external front. That pressure built and built — and the release began earlier this month, when IBM announced the end of many of its DEI initiatives and related goals, including the elimination of its diversity council, the phaseout of its supplier diversity initiatives, and no longer participating in surveys put out by radical corporate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-radical-intolerance-behind-woke-corporate-activism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">activist groups</a> like the Human Rights Campaign, which pressures companies to cover puberty blocker access for employees’ children in the name of “health care access.”
That would have been news enough — until several days ago, when IBM also <a href="https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-secures-commitment-viewpoint-neutrality-ibm-encourages-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to include viewpoint neutrality as part of its advertising policy in response to Heritage’s shareholder engagement. That means that biased, activist-driven, political censorship that ad cartels like GARM perpetuate is now explicitly banned under IBM corporate policy. IBM listened to its shareholders, its employees, and its customers — and the result is another company willing to make commitments to political neutrality. This is what happens when authentic shareholder advocacy, championing political neutrality, merges with external pressure to drop corporate bias: change happens, and happens in the form of concrete policy commitments, not just boilerplate PR statements. It’s a praiseworthy step.
But is the scrutiny over? Absolutely not. IBM needs to demonstrate that they’re committed to actually staying the course on being politically-neutral and quota-free. Outstanding questions remain. During our engagement on behalf of Heritage, the company <a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/corpfin/no-action/14a-8/heritageibm3325-14a8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notably claimed</a> to the SEC that they couldn’t give a definition of DEI as grounds to ignore shareholder concerns — so how did they go from not knowing what DEI is to getting rid of it? (You can probably guess how.) The company holds its annual meeting of shareholders today, and if they’re savvy will make a point of focusing their messaging on business, not activism.
Achieving the commitment to neutrality at IBM was the result of a myriad of groups, from shareholders like Heritage to <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/sec-sides-with-adf-denies-absurd-attempt-from-govt-contractor-ibm-to-hide-from-shareholders-on-dei-proposal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legal giants</a> like Alliance Defending Freedom to the courageous IBM employees willing to speak out about the bias behind the scenes. And it’s going to take all of those groups to be vigilant now — not paying attention to our boardrooms is what got us into the woke mess in the first place.
This is the next phase of rooting out bias and wokeness from corporate America — watching tirelessly to see whether companies that commit to ditching DEI are actually willing to put their messaging and money where their mouths are. Smart companies will be willing to commit to change. Foolish ones will hope to either avoid scrutiny altogether or reintroduce the same tired DEI policies under the guise of <a href="https://www.shrm.org/executive-network/insights/time-to-add-b-for-belonging-to-workplace-dei-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">phrases</a> like “belonging.” It’s our job, as shareholders, as customers, and as Americans, to keep up the pressure for accountability with the leverage that we’ve been given. And above all, to make the case for what truly makes every company successful: the courage to resist activism and the fortitude to focus on business.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN, and The Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Traders On The Floor Of The New York Stock Exchange As Fed Chair Powell Holds New Conference

IBM Rolls Back DEI, Commits To Political Neutrality

Business

Dow Jones

GARM

Heritage Foundation

Human Rights Campaign

Opinion

Robby Starbuck

Stock Market

Wall Street

Woke Culture

On the surface, the group that administers the MCAT seems to have left DEI behind. But behind the scenes, it&#8217;s working on plans to secretly push the ideology, an insider with knowledge of the situation tells The Daily Wire.
The Association of American Medical Colleges, which administers the medical school entrance exam and helps accredit medical schools, purged most DEI content from its website after a damning <a href="https://donoharmmedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Activism-over-Meritocracy-How-the-AAMC-is-Corrupting-Medical-Education-with-Endless-DEI-Ideology.pdf">report</a> from the nonprofit <a href="https://donoharmmedicine.org/">Do No Harm</a> called the AAMC “the organization ruining medical education.”
But an AAMC insider tells The Daily Wire the organization is backtracking, telling employees to stay the course internally despite the outward changes.
“The AAMC has pushed DEI for about a decade. The leaders are not going to change their views overnight,” the AAMC employee explained. “Even though we now talk about it differently, the AAMC is still very much committed to DEI.”
An internal AAMC “language guidance” document obtained by The Daily Wire reveals that the organization is seeking to sanitize its messaging around DEI in order to avoid terms that “have become polarizing.”
The AAMC says it conducted research that found certain phrases “are widely misunderstood or misinterpreted,” including the terms “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” “historically marginalized groups,” and “systems of oppression.&#8221; Other terms that the AAMC warns against include “birthing people,” “anti-racism,” “minority,” and “inclusive excellence.”
<div id="attachment_912353" style="width: 879px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912353" class=" wp-image-912353" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-25-at-12.54.19-PM-300x139.png" alt="" width="869" height="403" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-25-at-12.54.19-PM-300x139.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-25-at-12.54.19-PM-768x355.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 869px) 100vw, 869px" />Obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
“Rather than use the frequently misinterpreted shorthand ‘DEI,’ be specific about the goals you understand those principles to support, such as solutions that lead to increased access to care for areas and populations that have been underserved,” the guide goes on to read.
In its report, Do No Harm revealed how the AAMC leveraged millions of dollars and its stature in the medical field to push DEI — embedding DEI in the medical school accreditation process, adding ideological questions to the MCAT, and approving race-based scholarships for medical schools.
Since then, the organization has removed webpages that discussed the group’s DEI agenda, including the AAMC’s “equity, diversity, and inclusion” <a href="https://www.aamc.org/about-us/equity-diversity-inclusion">page</a>, which <a href="https://archive.ph/HvJLK">previously</a> outlined the group’s DEI commitment and listed upcoming DEI trainings and seminars.
An AAMC report on “Creating Action to Eliminate Racism in Medical Education,” <a href="https://archive.ph/6W1jD">archived here</a>, is <a href="https://www.aamc.org/media/63076/download?attachment?attachment">no longer</a> publicly available. A page on addressing racism in healthcare has been <a href="https://www.aamc.org/about-us/excellence-academic-medicine/resources-address-racism-academic-medicine">removed</a>, and the organization has also taken down a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250221162046/https:/www.aamc.org/what-we-do/equity-diversity-inclusion/underrepresented-in-medicine">page</a> on its site that discussed demographic groups that are “underrepresented in medicine.”
Still, the insider alleges that various different leaders within the AAMC, including its CEO, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to DEI in a town hall earlier this year.
David Skorton, the AAMC CEO, told employees at the January town hall that the organization has “no plans to make a statement about DEI” and “no plans to eliminate our DEI cluster of employees,” the AAMC insider told The Daily Wire.
The sentiment was echoed by Danielle Turnipseed, the head of the AAMC’s Public Policy and Legislative Affairs branch. Turnipseed told employees “the important thing for us now is to get the work done and not make statements about [DEI]. We don&#8217;t want to spend time arguing with others about what we are doing. So, we want to focus on doing the work,” the employee explained.
“If we get investigated, we&#8217;ll handle it. We do the legal DEI,” added Frank Trinity, the AAMC’s Chief Legal Officer.
The AAMC did not respond to a request for comment.

Doctor

The Group Behind The MCAT Said It Was Ditching DEI. Insiders Say It Lied.

medical school

A non-profit organization that hosted an internship program that discriminated against white would-be applicants has now frozen the program in the wake of a Daily Wire investigation.
Called Silkroad, the organization’s “BIPOC internship” aimed to “diversify” the arts sector. Now the program has been renamed and put on pause after a Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/music-ensemble-hosts-bipoc-internship-barring-white-applicants-citing-systemic-allyship">investigation</a> revealed that the organization was engaged in anti-white discrimination.
“Applications are currently closed,” the site says of the paid internship program, adding that “Silkroad’s internship program is temporarily on pause.”
<div id="attachment_906237" style="width: 844px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906237" class=" wp-image-906237" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road-300x43.png" alt="" width="834" height="120" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road-300x43.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road-1024x146.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road-768x110.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road-1536x219.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silk-Road.png 1794w" sizes="(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px" />Screenshot</div>
Silkroad boasted just months ago that its internship program was only open to those from certain racial backgrounds. “The Silkroad BIPOC Internship Program is a five-month remote professional development experience designed to prepare emerging arts professionals of color with fluency in non-profit arts administration and leadership,” the group previously said.
“With a commitment to systemic allyship and the diversification of the non-profit arts sector, we welcome Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color to apply,” it added.
Silk Road even produced a document bragging about the demographic balance of past intern classes, which did not include any white people. “Join us in diversifying the arts sector and providing opportunities for the next generation of arts leaders,” the group said.
Now the organization’s site says that the internship is on pause, and the downloadable internship booklet no longer includes the racial breakdown of past classes.
<div id="attachment_906239" style="width: 882px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906239" class=" wp-image-906239" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silkroad-2-300x108.png" alt="" width="872" height="314" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silkroad-2-300x108.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silkroad-2-1024x370.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silkroad-2-768x277.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Silkroad-2.png 1230w" sizes="(max-width: 872px) 100vw, 872px" />Screenshot</div>
The change came in the wake of The Daily Wire’s investigation, which also explained that the program could be in violation of federal anti-discrimination law.
David Pivtorak, a lawyer who has active cases <a href="https://www.piv4law.com/new-blog/2022/8/23/former-american-express-employee-files-nationwide-discrimination-class-action">against</a> American Express for <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/amex-pushed-white-employees-promoted-black-colleagues-meet-racial-quotas-lawsuit-alleges">alleged racial discrimination</a> against white employees, explained why the program likely runs afoul of the law.
“It looks like it’s a paid internship so the usual state and federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in the employment context would likely apply,” Pivtorak noted. “Any white candidate who’s otherwise qualified could potentially sue if the internship, on its face, disqualifies anyone who is not a ‘person of color.’”
Silkroad did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
This isn’t the first discriminatory internship that’s been shuttered following a Daily Wire investigation. NASCAR removed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nascar-takes-down-blatantly-illegal-racial-requirement-for-internship-after-daily-wire-report">discriminatory selection criteria</a> from a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blatantly-illegal-nascar-bans-white-applicants-from-diversity-internship">diversity internship program</a> that barred white people and was called “blatantly illegal” by one lawyer.
The University of California Berkeley also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/berkeley-tries-to-rebrand-environmentalist-of-color-scholarship-after-legal-complaints?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Berkeley+Tries+To+Rebrand+%E2%80%98Environmentalist+Of+Color%E2%80%99+Scholarship+After+Legal+Complaints">reformed</a> its “environmentalist of color” scholarship after The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watchdog-challenges-environmentalist-of-color-scholarship-at-notoriously-liberal-university?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Notoriously+Liberal+University%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Environmentalist+Of+Color%E2%80%99+Scholarship+Is+Illegal%2C+Watchdog+Claims">exposed</a> that it, too, was discriminating against white people.

Group of People

Non-Profit Freezes Internship That Discriminated Against Whites After Daily Wire Investigation

anti-white

Discrimination

Social Issues

U.S.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and two other nonprofit organizations have come under fire for allegedly implementing scholarship and career advancement programs that discriminate against white Americans, potentially violating federal law and jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) reported three organizations, the Gates Foundation, the Lagrant Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation, in <a href="https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2655691/American_Alliance_for_Equal_Rights_Files_Request_to_IRS.pdf?p=pdf">letters to the IRS</a>, claiming the nonprofits have &#8220;intentionally&#8221; discriminated against white people.
These cases of discrimination, AAER says, constitute &#8220;sufficient grounds&#8221; for the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt statuses of these three organizations.
Edward Blum, the president of the AAER, blasted the groups for engaging in race-based discrimination while enjoying public subsidies on account of their tax-exempt status. “Organizations that discriminate based on race—whether their intentions are benevolent or not—are not eligible for public subsidies through the tax code,” Blum asserted. “The IRS must act to uphold the law.”
The Gates Foundation, AAER says, is “intentionally discriminating against white students by excluding them from the tuition assistance and specialized support that it provides to students of every other race or ethnicity.” The foundation’s Gates Scholarship states that the program is a “highly selective, last dollar scholarship for outstanding, minority high school students” before listing acceptable racial and ethnic backgrounds in its eligibility requirements.
A 2022 video advertising the Gates Scholarship <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxxirXy4nA4">reaffirms</a> that only &#8220;low-income, minority students&#8221; are eligible. The program is only open to students who are &#8220;African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, or Native American.&#8221;
AAER also blasted the Lagrant Foundation, which it similarly accuses of engaging in race-based discrimination against whites.
The Lagrant Foundation partners with large corporations like Walmart, Microsoft, and Charles Schwab and seeks to “increase the number of ethnic minorities in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations.” It lists the approved racial and ethnic backgrounds eligible for the program, which is limited to African Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, and Hispanics.
Another organization, called Creative Capital, teamed up with the leftist Skoll Foundation to similarly engage in discrimination, AAER claimed in its letter.
Skoll and Creative Capital, which provides funding to artists, worked alongside Kickstarter “to launch a $500,000 Creative Capital x Skoll Foundation Fund that backs projects by Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx creators on the crowdfunding platform.”
Artists selected for the program were also given “access to Creative Capital’s vast educational resources and workshops at no-charge” and “strategic guidance” from “Kickstarter’s category experts.”
“These organizations are free to operate as they wish—but not with the public subsidy that tax-exempt status provides,” Blum charged. “Racial discrimination—whether in scholarships, professional development, or artistic grants—violates public policy and must not be underwritten by American taxpayers.”
The three nonprofits are far from the only organizations accused of openly engaging in blatant race-based discrimination in the name of DEI, however. One Massachusetts music nonprofit ran a “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/music-ensemble-hosts-bipoc-internship-barring-white-applicants-citing-systemic-allyship">BIPOC internship</a>” that similarly excluded white people, informing applicants that “we welcome Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color to apply.”
A wide range of corporations have also discriminated against white applicants, a series of Daily Wire investigations revealed. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nascar-takes-down-blatantly-illegal-racial-requirement-for-internship-after-daily-wire-report">NASCAR</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-bank-pharmaceutical-giant-participated-in-mckinsey-training-that-banned-white-people">McKinsey and Company</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oracle-internship-scholarship-opportunities-bar-whites-and-asians-on-the-basis-of-race">Oracle</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/apple-entrepreneur-camp-program-bars-applicants-based-on-race">Apple</a>, and various other corporations appear to have engaged in openly discriminatory practices in the name of DEI.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates Foundation, Other Nonprofits Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Over Anti-White Discrimination

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Politics

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck is joining the Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow, where he’ll lead an effort encouraging corporations to drop left-wing ideologies, and instead, prioritize merit.
Starbuck, who has led successful <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pure-lunacy-robby-starbuck-on-exposing-dei-in-corporate-america">campaigns</a> to get corporations like Tractor Supply, Home Depot, Harley Davidson, John Deere, Jack Daniels, and even Walmart to ditch the left-wing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, explained how he will continue the fight at the Heritage Foundation.
“I am thrilled to join The Heritage Foundation to help lead the charge in pushing back against the dangerous rise of woke DEI and ESG policies that undermine American values,” Starbuck said. “These harmful initiatives have no place in our businesses or institutions, and I’m committed to advancing policies that prioritize merit, free enterprise, and individual freedom over divisive ideologies.&#8221;
Starbuck will lead Heritage’s capital markets initiative, which the organization says will be dedicated to encouraging aligned organizations to reshape corporate America, encouraging corporations to prioritize ethics and merit while dropping left-wing ideologies like DEI.
“It’s time to restore common sense and accountability to the workplace, and I’m excited to continue to lead that movement from Heritage,” the conservative activist added.
Andrew Olivastro, the Heritage Foundation’s chief advancement officer, celebrated the announcement that Starbuck is joining the conservative organization. “Robby Starbuck is a trailblazer for our times, and we are thrilled he is joining us at Heritage. Robby has played a leading role helping Americans find their voice and reclaim their rights as shareowners, employees, and customers,” Olivastro said. “Our combined efforts will both set the agenda for the business community and save the private sector for future prosperity.&#8221;
John Backiel, vice president of finance and accounting at Heritage, also celebrated Starbuck’s move and further explained the goals of the effort.
“Heritage is leaning into the coalition of organizations, businesses, and individuals who desire to put their capital to work as a force multiplier by investing in companies and organizations building a better American future,” Backiel noted. “Through our corporate engagement we will help bring an end to corporate progressive indoctrination of the workforce and engage in constructive dialogue that rewards good businesses and products.&#8221;
“Heritage and our allies won’t stop until we break the imminent tyranny of a technocratic modern state and its corporate satellites stripping ordinary people of their God-given individual sovereignty,&#8221; the Heritage vice president said.

EXCLUSIVE: Robby Starbuck Joins Heritage Foundation To Continue Fight Against Woke Corporations

General

An affiliate of Pennsylvania State University was hit with a federal civil rights complaint on Tuesday alleging that scholarship opportunities discriminated against white and male students on the basis of their race and sex.
The Equal Opportunity Project hit the Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State University, over 12 different scholarships, including some that require applicants to be “a racial or ethnic minority,” “female,” or considered “previously marginalized” on account of their identities.
“Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, or sex violates Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, as well as Pennsylvania law,” said William A. Jacobson, the founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Such race-and sex-based scholarships also violate Penn Tech&#8217;s own non-discrimination policies. We are asking Penn Tech to live up to the law and its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected.”
The university’s Cahir Family Renaissance Scholarship only accepts applicants who “have been previously marginalized by racial, ethnic, socio-economic, gender, or other adversities,” while the “Start to Finish Minority Scholarship” tells applicants that they must be “a racial or ethnic minority.” Other scholarships named in the federal complaint only accept female applicants.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-901107 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-300x134.png" alt="" width="708" height="316" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-300x134.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-1024x458.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-768x343.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM.png 1222w" sizes="(max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px" /></div>
“Racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race, ethnicity, or sex is targeted or benefits. All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex,” Jacobson charged. “It does not matter what schools call it — &#8216;anti-racism&#8217; or &#8216;diversity, equity, and inclusion,&#8217; or something else — what matters is that no measure of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is permitted.”
The complaint comes after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-investigating-more-than-50-universities-for-anti-white-anti-asian-discrimination">launched investigations</a> into more than 50 universities that allegedly engaged in anti-white and anti-Asian discrimination, including Vanderbilt, Yale, New York University, Notre Dame, Duke, and Georgetown.
Most of the 52 institutions under investigation face scrutiny over their involvement in the PhD Project, which the Education Department described as “an organization that purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.” Other colleges are under investigation for allegedly awarding discriminatory, race-based scholarships.

Graduation cap

Pennsylvania College Hit With Federal Complaint Over Anti-White, Anti-Male Scholarships

Academia

Courts

Pennsylvania

Racial Discrimination

University of Pennsylvania

A professional development group sponsored by Procter &amp; Gamble and other companies has quietly altered the requirements for a race-based internship program that might flout federal non-discrimination law.
Called “BLAC,” an acronym for “Building Leaders and Creators,” the <a href="https://www.blacinternship.org/#our-mission">internship program</a> aims to diversify the advertising industry and explicitly employs racial eligibility criteria on applicants.
“Applicants to the BLAC internship program should identify as Black or BIPOC,” the program’s requirements <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241212175045/https://www.blacinternship.org/">previously read</a>. The site has been modified since The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment to the organization, with the site now <a href="https://www.blacinternship.org/#what">specifying</a> that applicants should &#8220;be a member of a group underrepresented in advertising or marketing.&#8221; BLAC did not respond to a request for comment.
David Pivtorak, a lawyer who has active cases <a href="https://www.piv4law.com/new-blog/2022/8/23/former-american-express-employee-files-nationwide-discrimination-class-action">against</a> American Express for <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/amex-pushed-white-employees-promoted-black-colleagues-meet-racial-quotas-lawsuit-alleges">alleged racial discrimination</a> against white employees, explained that this program may be against the law.
“Generally speaking, racially discriminatory internships are unlawful under various state and federal laws,” Pivtorak told The Daily Wire. “If the entity that created this internship or the ad agencies where the interns are sent to work are subject to Title VII, or equivalent state laws, then the program would certainly violate anti-discrimination laws as it specifically discriminates against individuals solely based on race.”
He went on to add that “the main question is whether the interns could be considered ‘employees’ under the relevant statutes” before explaining that the interns are paid “is a significant factor in determining employee status.”
A <a href="https://vimeo.com/641669799">promotional video</a> for the program calls it “a paid summer internship for black creative thinkers at independent advertising, marketing, and creative agencies across the country.” BLAC also describes itself as “a champion for the more diverse and inclusive advertising industry of the future” that seeks to “inspire and be inspired by a new generation of Black talent.” Accepted applicants participate in the 12-week-long internship opportunity at one of BLAC’s 29 advertising host agencies.
The program is one of a wide array of internship opportunities and job postings uncovered by The Daily Wire that appear to engage in racial discrimination. A number of large companies, including Apple, Oracle, Nascar, McKinsey and Company, and several others, have hosted programs that imposed racial selection criteria on applicants.
Now the incoming Trump administration will have the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doj-could-crack-down-on-dei-fueled-discrimination-against-whites-and-asians">opportunity to crack down</a> on companies that discriminate against white and Asian applicants in service of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement.
BLAC boasts several sponsors, including Procter &amp; Gamble. The company’s logo is accompanied by a statement explaining its support for the race-based program.
“Racial inequality is the inescapable reality of America. It didn’t begin with us, but it can end with us. If we choose to act. For years, we have used our voice as a leading advertiser to shine a light on inequality, highlight bias, and spark dialogue that leads to understanding and action,” the consumer goods company states. “Through BLAC, we are proud to support an initiative that will help create more representative, equitable and powerful work across the advertising industry, shaping our world for the better.”
Procter &amp; Gamble did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the internship program, BLAC also advertises a slate of <a href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5ffc9aaa9c8615838b6941ed/6706ca8c0518034dea3e73ba_BLAC%20DEI%20Offerings%202025.pdf">DEI programming</a> options from other organizations, intended for advertising agencies. “Central to the mission of BLAC is helping advertising agencies build and sustain environments that support the success, growth, and ultimate leadership of diverse talent,” the organization says.
One consultancy offers companies on-call DEI specialists for $1,200. The group also charges over $6,000 to “develop and deliver EDI-specific employee survey to unpack the current state of the organization,&#8221; adding that it &#8220;will identify trends and provide high-level recommendations for change based on results.”

Procter and Gamble

‘BLAC’ Internship Program Quietly Alters Race-Based Application Requirements

Equity

A Massachusetts music non-profit hosted a “BIPOC internship” program designed specifically for “professionals of color,” seemingly barring white professionals from applying.
Called Silkroad, the organization has <a href="https://www.silkroad.org/nea-grant">received federal funding</a> through the National Endowment for the Arts and says that it works towards a “more hopeful and inclusive world” through its musical performances. But one of its internship programs appears to blatantly exclude white would-be applicants on the basis of their race, citing a commitment to “systemic allyship” as a justification for engaging in anti-white discrimination.
“The Silkroad BIPOC Internship Program is a five-month remote professional development experience designed to prepare emerging arts professionals of color with fluency in non-profit arts administration and leadership,” the organization explains in <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b851632c258b41bb6cf9edc/t/66310c66966717509a8ecead/1714490475722/BIPOC+Internship+Booklet.pdf">one document</a> detailing the internship program.
“With a commitment to systemic allyship and the diversification of the non-profit arts sector, we welcome Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color to apply,” a <a href="https://www.silkroad.org/internship">description</a> of the internship program explains.
<div id="attachment_847161" style="width: 809px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-847161" class=" wp-image-847161" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-Internship-300x165.png" alt="" width="799" height="439" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-Internship-300x165.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-Internship-1024x562.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-Internship-768x422.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-Internship.png 1428w" sizes="(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px" />Screenshot</div>
“Our internship program celebrates the inherent talent and artistry of young professionals, creating a platform upon which to build their careers,” the organization’s website reads. “Join us in diversifying the arts sector and providing opportunities for the next generation of arts leaders.”
David Pivtorak, a lawyer who has active cases <a href="https://www.piv4law.com/new-blog/2022/8/23/former-american-express-employee-files-nationwide-discrimination-class-action">against</a> American Express for <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/amex-pushed-white-employees-promoted-black-colleagues-meet-racial-quotas-lawsuit-alleges">alleged racial discrimination</a> against white employees, told The Daily Wire that Silkroad could likely be sued by would-be internship candidates who are barred from consideration because of their race.
“It looks like it&#8217;s a paid internship so the usual state and federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in the employment context would likely apply,” Pivtorak explained to The Daily Wire. “Any white candidate who&#8217;s otherwise qualified could potentially sue if the internship, on its face, disqualifies anyone who is not a ‘person of color.’”
The organization <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b851632c258b41bb6cf9edc/t/66310c66966717509a8ecead/1714490475722/BIPOC+Internship+Booklet.pdf">provided</a> the demographics of its past intern classes, which, according to Silkroad’s own data, did not include any white people.
“We understand the critical role diversity plays in advancing arts administration and are dedicated to actively expanding and diversifying our intern cohorts to address the current lack of representation,” the report from the organization reads.
<div id="attachment_847171" style="width: 598px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-847171" class=" wp-image-847171" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-pie-chart-300x160.png" alt="" width="588" height="314" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-pie-chart-300x160.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-pie-chart-1024x548.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-pie-chart-768x411.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/BIPOC-pie-chart.png 1406w" sizes="(max-width: 588px) 100vw, 588px" />Screenshot</div>
Silkroad did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to its internship program, the organization also displays its adherence to left-wing ideology by way of a land acknowledgment posted at the bottom of its site.
“Silkroad acknowledges that Boston, MA, is the traditional territory of the Mashpee Wampanoag, Aquinnah Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Massachusett tribal nations. At Silkroad, we acknowledge this legacy and find inspiration from this land,” the statement reads. “We also acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory, and we honor and respect the many diverse Indigenous people still connected to this land on which we gather.”
“As a social impact organization, our board, staff, and artists have a responsibility to consider what it means to acknowledge the history and legacy of colonialism in our history as a nation, community, and organization,” Silkroad’s statement goes on to read.
Silkroad is one of the many organizations that appears to have engaged in anti-white discrimination in the name of DEI. A series of Daily Wire investigations revealed that a panoply of different corporations, including IBM, McKinsey and Company, Oracle, NASCAR, and J.P. Morgan, among others, hosted DEI internships, job openings, and professional development opportunities that appeared to bar whites, and in some cases Asians, from applying.
Institutions engaged in discrimination in the name of DEI could find themselves <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doj-could-crack-down-on-dei-fueled-discrimination-against-whites-and-asians">under heightened scrutiny</a> as the Trump administration takes office, however. Pivtorak told The Daily Wire that Trump’s Justice Department has “a panoply of remedies it can seek to address the discrimination that results from these DEI programs.”

Silk Road Ensemble

Music Ensemble Hosts ‘BIPOC Internship’ Barring White Applicants, Citing ‘Systemic Allyship’

As President Trump’s <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive orders</a> have mercifully begun dismantling discriminatory and illegal DEI and CRT programs throughout the government and our educational systems, we see a sharp increase in companies and organizations joining the already snowballing trend of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/01/30/war-on-dei-deutsche-bank-stands-firmly-behind-diversity-program-as-these-major-organizations-drop-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dumping DEI programs</a>. Perhaps more importantly, because these orders are merely following through with his successful campaign promises, they indicate that Americans themselves finally understand and reject the damage wrought by DEI.
If you needed further evidence that DEI is in its death throes, note how the DEI Industrial Complex defends DEI as they cover its rapid demise, feeling the need to proclaim anew the baseless tropes they used to help launch it originally. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-corporate-programs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS</a>,<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-missing-point-dei-meritocracy-experts/story?id=117975699" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> ABC</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-dei-practice-trump-is-trying-dismantle-2025-01-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Time</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-dei-practice-trump-is-trying-dismantle-2025-01-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Reuters</a>, and others have been including something like a “What is DEI?” section to their latest articles, reasserting that DEI is an extension of civil rights, that it is about helping disadvantaged groups, or telling us that <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-executive-order-puts-stem-diversity-efforts-hold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STEM research</a> and underrepresented scientists will suffer if DEI is eradicated.
Reuters offered this typical definition of DEI, “DEI programs have been part of workplace diversity efforts to ensure fairer representation for groups seen as historically marginalized, such as African Americans, LGBTQ+ community members, women, disabled people and other ethnic minorities in the United States.” Fortunately, despite the propaganda push, the DEI fairness mask has come off — and it is hopefully being fitted for a death mask.
<a href="https://starrs.us/dei-how-to-have-the-conversation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The hypocrisy of DEI</a> begins with the very words represented by that acronym — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/how-dei-corrupts-americas-universities">Christopher Rufo</a> has observed that, in practice, the policies bearing these labels usually promote precisely the opposite of what the words would imply. Diversity almost always involves implicit and explicit racial discrimination excluding or limiting some groups by their skin color or identity. Equity involves disparate and often unfair treatment of various identity groups (typically based on race, color, gender, and sex) in an attempt to equalize not opportunities, but outcomes. And Inclusion usually restricts ideas and people who oppose the prevailing doctrine of oppressed and oppressors.
DEI defenders commonly offer similar excuses as those for other failed attempts at Marxism. You might think that a piece titled <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/12/the-failure-of-the-dei-industrial-complex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Failure of the DEI Industrial Complex</a> in Harvard Business Review offers a sweeping indictment of DEI in general. Not quite. While admitting its undeniable failures in desired outcomes, it blames its downfall on the “lack of standards, consistency, and accountability among DEI practitioners.” In other words, the argument seems to be that it was a good idea, poorly implemented. Sound familiar?
The litany of slaughters, famines, gulags, and world wars was created by supposedly good ideas poorly implemented. If you start with flawed premises, things like standards, consistency and accountability only enhance the flaws. Such defective thinking includes believing that unequal outcomes are de facto evidence of discrimination; that diversity, not unity of shared values or esprit de corps is our strength; and that privilege and guilt are a function of DNA/skin color. In brief, poor implementation is the wrong epitaph.
As we close the casket, it is important to set the record straight. DEI is being buried today because enough Americans have finally realized that it has little to do with treating people fairly, combatting racism and sexism, helping the underserved, being more tolerant, or leveraging our differences. They now see that it is first and foremost about pitting groups against each other, lowering standards and eliminating meritocracy, and finding and magnifying perpetual grievances to benefit favored identity groups — and their facilitators.
They see that it grew into a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/dei-training-initiatives-consultants-companies-skepticism/674237/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multi-billion dollar self-serving industry</a> that was worse than ineffective; it was actually <a href="https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/dei-has-failed-we-do-not-need-more-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">counterproductive</a> — damaging all of those areas it promised to improve — often involving active discrimination and racism.
They see that our military was most profoundly impacted by DEI because, unlike the civilian world, the command structure requires immediate implementation of the destructive policies, that in just a few short years the damage done there was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cigarettes-dei-and-our-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nothing short of tragic</a> — lowering standards, morale and combat readiness, and creating the biggest recruiting crisis in half a century.
They see that even in academia, the cradle of DEI, the multi-year, largest and most expensive DEI effort to date ($250m) at the University of Michigan utterly backfired per the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/magazine/university-of-michigan-dei.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a>.
They also see that in reality DEI is simple racism — institutionalizing the favoring and disfavoring of certain individuals and groups based solely on their race and/or skin color, gender, or identity group.
Scholar and author <a href="https://starrs.us/the-dei-ruse-is-imploding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victor Davis Hanson</a> noted the beginning of DEI’s demise a year ago and rightly predicted, “In the end, DEI will implode because of its many contradictions: it is racist to the core; it is illegal and violates court decisions and the Constitution; it destroys meritocracy; and it is utterly incoherent in adjudicating who and who not deserve racial preferences.”
No, DEI is not dead yet, but it will likely be forced into academic hospice for a while — hopefully never to recover. The correct epitaph for DEI is that it is warmed over Marxism camouflaged as improved sensitivity and fairness. It is not on its death bed because of too much success too fast — too much fairness, too much racial harmony, too much improvement in outcomes of all forms. No, it is dying because, like all Marxism, it aims to foment distrust, chaos, resentment, guilt, hate, discrimination, and ultimately revolution; and most Americans have woken up to and reject that. Like every other attempt at implementation of Marxist principles, it may sound good in theory, but ultimately succumbs to reality.
Like all tyrants, DEI should not rest in peace because it should serve as yet another warning for what can happen even after the failings of countless other attempts at Marxism have been demonstrated. But regardless of how it leaves us, through burial or cremation, let’s get the eulogy right so that future generations may feel less inclined to resurrect its corpse.
* * *
Dr. Greg Salsbury is former president of Western Colorado University, on the Board of Advisors for <a href="https://starrs.us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STARRS</a>, and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Retirementology-Rethinking-American-Dream-Economy/dp/0137056532" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Retirementology – Rethinking the American Dream in a New Economy.”</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dusk at a winter’s English cemetery seen with in-focus flowers in a burial plot.

DEI Deserves An Accurate Eulogy

American Universities

Christopher Rufo

Legacy Media

Marxism

Social Justice

Walmart, Target, McDonalds, Amazon, Ford — the list goes on and on. Corporate America is finally waking up — their customers don’t want so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) forced into their everyday lives. This is good. It’s a sign that companies may be returning their focus to goods and services, rather than politically motivated barometers of social justice. It appears, though, that some areas of higher education remain boxed in to DEI control — and who is actually calling those plays may surprise you.
Taxpayer-funded schools shovel billions of dollars into an organization insistent on DEI promotion: the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The most powerful organization in college sports <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2022/11/29/ncaa-division-i-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-attestation-frequently-asked-questions.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires members</a> to sign <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2016/3/2/ncaa-inclusion-statement.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a constitution</a> promising schools, and thus their funds, will “commit to promoting DEI in athletic activities and events, hiring practices, professional and coaching relationships, leadership and advancement opportunities.”  
With the weight of football national championships, volleyball scholarships, and March Madness behind them, the organization has the power to flex and is strategically using it to push woke agendas. The pressure begins with athletics, but it does not stop there. The cost of admittance into the association creeps into every aspect of the school’s “community.” This compromises the integrity of academic staff, housing, curriculum, culture, and more of every member institution. Division One schools are even required to conduct a “DEI review” every four years “for the good of the greater community.” 
“The NCAA is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture in college athletics and to supporting DEI efforts of member schools, conferences and the national office,” the background statement on their “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Review Framework” reads, “Building on the intent of the NCAA’s Presidential Pledge and Commitment to Promoting Diversity and Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics, Division I adopted legislation that requires institutions to attest to completing a self-directed DEI review once every four years.” 
If a school wants to impress future students with a prestigious football program, they’ll have to bend the knee to DEI authorities to play elite competition. 
This was evident to me as I participated in the recent 2025 NCAA Convention. The annual meeting came at the cusp of the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and a landmark court decision striking down former President Biden’s illegal Title IX re-write. Athletic Directors flooded my line with, “What does this mean for us?” So, I attended a panel titled “Navigating the Inclusion Landscape” to see exactly how they were advising Athletic Directors. Sadly, they provided no guidance. The tone-deaf panel of DEI experts failed to mention the impending lawsuits, recent rule changes, and other elephants in the room that actually define the landscape. Rather, the panel of NCAA experts touted the phrase: “DEI is good!” 
The constant religious-like repetition of the phrase reeked of desperation. “There is still purpose in DEI programs and initiatives,” they promised. 
One panelist’s strategy hinted at how they plan to fight the will of most Americans: 
“I got academic freedom,” she exclaimed, “I got tenure! I might be able to say things to your student athletes that would be harder for you all to say. If your campus has tenured faculty, USE US! USE US to help you do this work and to figure out how not to be silent.” 
During the session, participants were careful to use unbound identifiers such as “black identifying athletes.” I grabbed several of their handouts on my way out including a pamphlet detailing how “language can impact how your athletes perform,” complete with a “social identity wheel.” 
Resources also specifically addressed how private faith-based institutions can focus on “respect and inclusion for LGBTQ student-athletes and staff.” The actions include embracing their presence, displaying resources, and initiating conversations with high-level school administrators and board members about creating an “inclusive campus for LGBTQ people.” 
I came out of the experience with one prevalent realization. While NCAA President Charlie Baker tells Congress the NCAA is forced to follow federal law in this area, the evidence suggests they aren’t followers but radical leaders actively pushing the DEI infestation compromising school athletics and academia at-large.
Congress, the White House, and the American people shouldn’t let the NCAA’s shiny national championship trophies distract them from the problem at hand. Americans voted for Donald Trump in large part because they wanted to see a change of direction in DEI. But to realize these goals, they must demand transparency and accountability from the NCAA for their coercive DEI policies that roadblock meaningful change.
* * *
Macy Petty is a Legislative Strategist and Women’s Sports Spokesperson at Concerned Women for America.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

2024 Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship

Why College Sports Need To Kill DEI Programs

College

College sports

NCAA

Women's sports

The federal government is spending a quarter of a million taxpayer dollars to <a href="https://www.transrurallives.org/about-trl">celebrate</a> &#8220;transrural&#8221; Americans — older people who live in rural areas and identify as transgender.
The National Endowment for the Humanities <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_RZ30005024_4340">granted</a> $247,000 for &#8220;The TransRural Lives Project,&#8221; a &#8220;digital storytelling project exploring and celebrating the lives of transgender older adults who live in or have strong ties to rural areas and small towns in the Pacific Northwest.&#8221; The program is run by professors from Central Washington University in conjunction with <a href="https://www.helen-house.org/">Helen House</a>, an organization that operates out of a residential home and invites children as young as 13 to meetups.
“Helen House gives power to, and validates, SOGIE youth and young adults ages 13 to 24, fostering self-exploration, self-expression, and self-acceptance,” the organization’s website reads.
President Donald Trump recently signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-protects-civil-rights-and-merit-based-opportunity-by-ending-illegal-dei/">executive order</a> intended to purge diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government and end any federal spending in support of the DEI agenda in academia and the private sector. A spokesman for Central Washington University told The Daily Wire that the federal funding for the &#8220;TransRural Lives Project&#8221; has not been affected, however.
The three-year project, which won the federal contract at the tail end of the Biden administration, is <a href="https://www.transrurallives.org/people">helmed</a> by M. Eliatamby-O&#8217;Brien, an Associate Professor in Central Washington University&#8217;s English Department who uses “they/them” pronouns. “Their research focuses on the experiences of gender, sexual, and racially-minoritized forced migrants through engagement with digital life narratives, digital storytelling, and multimodal rhetorics,” Brian’s biography reads.
The project has already collected the stories of multiple men who identify as women and live in the Pacific Northwest. “Veronica Steed is a 65-year-old white, crossdresser who came out around 2000,” <a href="https://www.transrurallives.org/stories/veronica">one story</a> reads, with another biography focusing on Elior, “an activist whose been feeling pretty burnt out for a few years now.”
The National Endowment for the Humanities did not respond to a request for comment. Central Washington University declined to comment.
This isn’t the first time the federal government has allocated taxpayer dollars to far-left, pro-transgender causes. The Department of Agriculture agreed to spend $50,000 of taxpayer money on an organization that works to “diversify the outdoors” by hosting LGBT-specific wilderness conservation trips for teenagers, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-government-set-to-pay-50k-to-encourage-lgbt-teen-wilderness-conservation-efforts">reported</a>. And the Department of Health and Human Services approved a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-government-to-spend-700k-on-trans-inclusive-sex-ed-for-14-year-olds">$700,000 grant</a> to create “an inclusive teen pregnancy program for transgender boys.”
“Youth who are assigned female at birth … are at risk for negative sexual health outcomes yet are effectively excluded from sexual health programs because gender-diverse youth do not experience the cisgender, heteronormative teen sexual education messaging available to them as salient or applicable,” the award description reads.

Pro-trans protester

The Federal Government Is Spending $250K Documenting ‘Transrural Lives’ In Pacific Northwest

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Transgender

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