Yielding to Trump, GWU Cancels "Diversity Summit"

WASHINGTON - EntSun -- In support of its goals, the George Washington University [GWU] for nine years has hosted a major event called the "Diversity Summit."

But this year, apparently in an attempt to placate the Trump administration and its attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, what would have been the 10th annual "Diversity Summit" was twice postponed and has now been cancelled, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

In its place GWU plans instead to stage at a later time a new event to be called "OneGW Community Summit" which will emphasize different - as yet not clearly defined - topics and goals including "community, culture and inclusion," "civil discourse," "multiple truths," "storytellers," and more.

As to the reasons for suddenly abandoning "diversity," the GWU student newspaper reports the following:

"GW's revamp and removal of the word 'diversity' from the summit's title come as universities face mounting pressure from Trump to eliminate DEI on their campuses through executive orders, targeted investigations and stripping federal funding. Students have voiced concerns that GW's recent actions — including halting the search for a top diversity official, pushing the summit and shuttering the law school's DEI website — signal a wide-reaching institutional rollback of DEI.  . . . Since Trump took office for his second term, five of GW's 12 peer schools have renamed their DEI offices to remove the word 'diversity,' and three entirely shuttered their offices."

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JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of  Public Interest Law Emeritus
George Washington University Law School,
"The Man Behind The Ban on Cigarette Commercials"
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Creator of the "Banzhaf Index"
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH),
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf