Diversity initiatives all over America have recently been suffering colossal losses. The United States Supreme Court’s controversial ruling on affirmative action comes as some politicians attempt to undermine the strides made for diversity in institutions over the past 50 years.
GRESB, an organization that “provides actionable and transparent environmental, social and governance (ESG) data to financial markets,” warns that the Supreme Court’s ruling may encourage lawsuits challenging race-conscious DEI programs in the private sector. This legal risk is causing some companies to alter or reconsider their DEI strategies.
President and CEO of Equity In The Center, Kerrien Suarez, said she has seen the decline of internship offerings that explicitly prioritize diversity firsthand.
“What I’m hearing from colleagues is that some organizations are afraid to have those programs because they think that they will end up being sued,” Suarez said. “And I do have colleagues within organizations that remain committed to equity work.”
GRESB believes that “as companies assess the legality of their DEI programs and hedge against potential lawsuits for reverse discrimination they have scaled back their DEI efforts or removed references to DEI targets and programs in their annual reports, especially those related to race.”
Earlier this year, Microsoft terminated its DEI team, citing “changing business needs” as the reason for the shift.
An email sent out by a team leader at Microsoft sheds more light on the rationale, explaining that the “true systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere is no longer as business critical or smart as it was in 2020.”
The Washington Post reported that Zoom took it a step further by getting rid of their DEI team in favor of “DEI consultants”.
According to Chief Operating Officer, Aparna Bawa, these consultants will “champion inclusion by embedding our values…directly into our people programs rather than as a separate initiative.”
Agricultural machinery company John Deere felt significant pressure from their consumers to reverse their commitment to inclusivity.
After facing backlash for its DEI initiatives, the company announced that, along with layoffs to its DEI program, it would no longer attend cultural awareness events and would remove all “socially motivated” messaging from the training materials provided to new employees.
Pfizer, Starbucks and Disney are all companies that have been challenged by shareholders about their DEI policies. Pfizer went as far as “dropping race-based eligibility requirements” to avoid any more legal trouble.
“This stuff is going to happen because that’s part of dismantling a system. If you try to dismantle a system, the system is going to try to reinforce itself,” Suarez said.
Asante Spencer, a recent graduate of the University of California-Los Angeles and current Golden State Warriors intern in the DEI department believes that this should not deter companies from pursuing diversity.
“From a business standpoint, if run correctly, DEI departments can actually increase a company’s profitability. For example, corporate partnerships often align with companies that support similar causes,” Spencer said. “When the Warriors host heritage nights, they might attract a significant corporate partner with a similar consumer base, driving revenue and uplifting a culture at the same time.”
She said that she has also heard about educational institutions cutting DEI initiatives, such as affirmative action or affinity groups, and a few law firms stopping their internship programs that historically targeted minority students.
The Supreme Court’s ruling to limit the use of race in college admissions has affected the landscape of DEI internships for students of color, with companies treading carefully to avoid potential legal repercussions.
While some corporations remain committed to diversity, others are re-evaluating their approaches, leading to concerns about the future availability of these programs.
The long-term impact of this ruling on DEI initiatives will depend on how companies navigate the evolving legal landscape and whether they can find new ways to uphold their commitments to diversity without explicitly using race as a factor.
Tianna Green, a broadcast journalism major at Howard University and an internal communications intern at Bloomberg said that these initiatives, programs and opportunities are a critical part of whether she feels welcomed in the workspace or not.
“I know personally, I will not work for a company that [doesn’t have DEI] at the top of their list,” she said when discussing how these DEI rollbacks have affected the internship landscape.
Spencer believes that showing up in professional spaces when we can is enough because “our presence, in itself, is a form of resistance and resilience.”
Suarez suggested that people who get a chance to be a part of these companies, even if it is just for an internship, take it a step further.
“Naming the importance of inclusion and equity and also just honestly doing something as simple as explaining to people that diversity, equity, and inclusion are three distinct concepts, it would be helpful,” she said.
With all of these pieces put into place, Green believes that keeping diversity, equity and inclusion alive is more than doable.
“D [Diversity] and I [Inclusion] are not going anywhere as long as I’m here,” she said.
