GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Since taking office two weeks ago, the Trump administration has shaken up many of the previous administration’s policies, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on inauguration day, wiping out DEI policies at the federal government level.
After the Trump administration’s complete 180 on DEI policies, places like the Greater Green Bay YWCA are frustrated and concerned the executive order could hurt businesses, organizations and people at the private level.
The Greater Green Bay YWCA has a goal of uplifting women and eliminating racism within the community. But with the Trump administration’s new orders, they’re concerned eliminating DEI is a step in the wrong direction.
“They potentially can undermine decades of work and progress that have been made on inclusive workplaces, as well as inclusive communities,” Greater Green Bay YWCA Executive Director Amy Schaeuble said.
Schaeuble said this move has created a lot of unpredictability and fear within the organization. While she doesn’t know the exact impact just yet, the biggest worry is what sort of help federal programs will provide to local non-profits going forward.
“It’s creating this uncertainty for us. What does that mean, will there be a potential impact on our operations, and of course the question is around funding and resources,” Schaeuble said.
Trump issued the executive order titled ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,’ on his first day in office.
The administration refers to DEI as illegal and immoral discrimination, according to whitehouse.gov.
“We want the most competent people, we don’t care what race they are,” Trump said on Jan. 25 when asked if DEI played a role in the Washington, D.C. plane crash. “You’re talking about extremely complex things and if they don’t have a great brain, a great power of the brain they’re not going to be very good at what they do and bad things will happen.”
While the order doesn’t make DEI programs ‘illegal,’ it has made it possible to be sued. Since the Federal Government gives funds to many private companies, colleges, universities, and organizations, the policy is expected to trickle down.
“The federal government is now going to demand the end of these DEI programs and they have the money, and if you have the money, you have the hammer,” Lawrence University History Professor Jerald Podair said.
Podair said there will likely be changes in higher education. He said in the past, schools and businesses were told they needed to have DEI programs, otherwise they were in danger of losing funding. Now it’s vice versa.
“They’re not kidding here… they are actually going to go after not only the federal level, but schools and businesses that they feel are engaging in what they now consider to be in illegal DEI practices,” Podair said.
In response to the new Administration’s policies, multiple private corporations including McDonald’s, Walmart and Target have scaled back their DEI efforts.
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