Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: DEI

Hancock: Race is the excuse—power is the prize
Top Stories, Commentary, National, Substack

Hancock: Race is the excuse—power is the prize

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack Exposing the Ideological Machine Behind ‘Systemic Racism’ There’s a dirty little secret in American life: Much of what we call “racism” today isn’t really about race at all. It’s about power. It’s about control—of narratives, of institutions, of money, of minds. Race is just the excuse. The lever. The emotional booby trap that gets people to surrender their judgment in the name of justice. We live in a time when invoking racism is more profitable than solving it. More potent than proving it. And more politically useful than letting it die. But let’s be clear: actual racism—an irrational hatred or fear of someone based solely on skin color—is real, evil, and must be condemned wherever it exists. The problem is that’s not what do...
Behind closed doors: Leaked memos reveal how Durango 9-R Schools avoided a DEI lawsuit—until now
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Behind closed doors: Leaked memos reveal how Durango 9-R Schools avoided a DEI lawsuit—until now

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R changed its hiring policy this spring without a public announcement—but the move didn’t go unnoticed. According to a new federal civil rights complaint filed by Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) and authored by its general counsel, William Trachman, the district had for years pushed a race-conscious hiring agenda, encouraged by internal equity committees and shielded by carefully worded legal guidance.  Now, MSLF says those practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act—and that scrubbing the language in 2025 wasn’t enough to undo the damage. This filing is one of three separate federal complaints MSLF has submitted since late June. The others challenge a district policy that endorses race-based ...
DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

DEI at a cost: Colorado schools caught in $70M federal freeze

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado public schools are facing a $70 million funding freeze—part of a broader $6.8 billion nationwide hold triggered by the U.S. Department of Education. At the heart of the conflict are federal objections to DEI and LGBTQIA+ initiatives in schools, which have already led to lawsuits and pushed districts to search for new funding before fall. The freeze and federal justification The funding suspension follows executive orders issued by the Trump administration in early 2025. According to a July 2 notice sent to state education departments, the Department of Education is reviewing already-approved funds to ensure they align with new presidential priorities. Governor Jared Polis responded the same day, calling the act...
Ali: How Marxist ideology hijacked student debt and the American Dream
COURAGE.MEDIA, Approved, Commentary, National

Ali: How Marxist ideology hijacked student debt and the American Dream

By Ayaan Hirsi Ali | Commentary, COURAGE.MEDIA David Friedberg’s recent All-In podcast argument sounds convincing: student debt creates desperate graduates, financial stress drives political radicalism, and young Americans embrace socialism because capitalism failed them economically. The analysis captures real and understandable pain but overlooks the underlying mechanisms. Zohran Mamdani reportedly owes at least $200,000 from his college years. He studied African Studies and graduated without a job, but now he’s winning elections as a socialist candidate in New York City. Friedberg connects the financial dots, but the ideological picture remains invisible. In 1990s Uganda, a young boy and his family fled tyranny. They came to the United States seeking a new beginning. What ...
Colorado files amicus brief supporting DEI initiatives in lawsuit
Approved, Colorado Politics, National

Colorado files amicus brief supporting DEI initiatives in lawsuit

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado joined yet another coalition of 18 states in filing a court brief supporting the legal challenge to two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, even as a federal court blocked cuts to public health grants.  In the case involving public health funding, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminating $11 billion in public health grants, including $229 million in Colorado. That lawsuit, filed April 1 by 23 states and the District of Columbia, argued that cutting billions in federal money from state public health departments would decimate health infrastruc...
Medical school accreditor suspends ‘diversity’ requirements after Trump executive order
Approved, National, The Federalist

Medical school accreditor suspends ‘diversity’ requirements after Trump executive order

By  Breccan F. Thies | The Federalist A major medical school accreditor responsible for all graduate-level medical programs announced it would suspend some of its “diversity” requirements, roughly two weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements among accreditors. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) explained that it would be pausing some “diversity” requirements over “concerns” from “multiple constituents in several states” that they might violate state or federal law. “The ACGME has heard significant concerns from multiple constituents in several states and from federal Sponsoring Institutions about their ability to comply with some of the ACGME requirement...
Transportation Department learns it’s funding $54 million in woke grants — and ends them
Approved, Daily Wire, National

Transportation Department learns it’s funding $54 million in woke grants — and ends them

By Mary Margaret Olohan | Daily Wire WASHINGTON—The Department of Transportation is terminating $54 million worth of recently-discovered “woke university grants,” The Daily Wire has learned, arguing that the grants advanced radical agendas that ran counter to the department’s mission. Seven schools received grants which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told The Daily Wire were advancing a “radical DEI and green agenda” that is wasteful and counter to the Trump administration’s priorities. The University of California, Davis’s National Center for Sustainable Transportation was receiving $12 million for “accelerating equitable decarbonization” research, according to the department, while City College of New York’s Center for Social and Economic Mobility for People and Communities...
Colorado refuses to certify DEI removal order, risks $800M in school funds
Approved, Chalkbeat Colorado, National, State

Colorado refuses to certify DEI removal order, risks $800M in school funds

By Melanie Asmar | Chalkbeat Colorado Colorado will refuse a demand from the Trump administration to certify that its schools have eliminated what the federal government says are illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, state Commissioner of Education Susana Córdova said Thursday. “I am not signing that,” Córdova said. “I am not asking our districts to sign that.” However, Córdova told the State Board of Education she will sign a new assurance that the state is in compliance with Title VI, which bans discrimination on the basis of race, “so that my name, in addition to the department’s previous commissioner who signed our previous assurance, is on file and on record to be able to indicate that we are fully enforcing Title VI.” The U.S. Department of Educatio...
UCCS under scrutiny for alleged race-based policies in higher education shakeup
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

UCCS under scrutiny for alleged race-based policies in higher education shakeup

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is among more than 50 universities facing federal investigations as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to restore merit-based education and dismantle discriminatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The U.S. Department of Education announced the investigations on Friday, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring that federal funding is not used to support race-based preferences in admissions, scholarships, or other aspects of student life. This move comes after a memo last month warning institutions that such policies violate federal civil rights laws and could result in a loss of federal funding. The investigation into UCCS stems from allegations that the university engaged in ra...
NSA investigates ‘secret sex chats’ under guise of DEI on internal agency message board
Approved, Fox News, National

NSA investigates ‘secret sex chats’ under guise of DEI on internal agency message board

By Alec Schemmel , Morgan Phillips  | Fox News Federal employees within the intelligence community are under investigation for allegedly misusing an internal agency messaging board to dish on their sexual fantasies under the guise of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), officials say.  Chat logs from the National Security Agency's (NSA) "Intelink" messaging platform, obtained by researchers from the conservative Manhattan Institute reportedly via sources within the NSA, revealed employees from various intelligence agencies discussing their experiences with gender-reassignment surgery, artificial genitalia, hormone therapy, polyamory and pronoun usage. Some of these agencies reportedly include the Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Naval Intelligence and the NSA. ...