August 2023
Despite heightened public awareness around systemic racial inequalities, much of which was galvanized by the murder of George Floyd in 2020, there are now equally escalating challenges to efforts aimed at improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Here are some of the biggest barriers to DEI efforts in corporate America today.
Multiple factors are setting up the current obstacles to achieving diverse and inclusive workplaces. Here are some everyone should be aware of.
Just as cultural and political leanings skew different ways in different US regions, so do values around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. This has been true long before the recent discourse about racial justice, and unfortunately, deepening ideological divisions are intensifying these differences.
As of 2017, company DEI programs flourished the most in New England, Middle Atlantic, and West Coast states. The regions where DEI fared worst included the South (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas) and Mountain states (Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming). In these large swathes of the country, DEI programs are especially unlikely to thrive with any additional threats or challenges to their existence — and there are several.
Confusion Around Federal vs. State EEO Laws
Federal laws around DEI are set and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These are known as Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, which are most commonly referenced by companies in rote boilerplate statements. Although most employers are familiar with federal EEO laws, some states have their own versions of these, which can make DEI program compliance tricky at best and legally risky at worst.
If you’ve read, watched, or listened to any news in the past few years, you’ve heard about the conservative backlash — also known as “whitelash†— of right-wing politicians, industry leaders, and individuals who resent policy efforts aimed at protecting liberty and justice for all Americans.Â
These groups present a false argument that America is under attack from “woke culture†and the so-called “woke agenda.†In doing so, conservatives choose to ignore hundreds of years of profound and continuing racial injustices — which, even today, are far from being adequately addressed — in favor of the idea that white populations are now the victims of “reverse racism.â€
However unfounded, political and public whitelash has necessarily spilled over into corporate America, whose C-suite staff are still overwhelmingly white and male. As a result, DEI officers in many companies and industries feel they have to tread carefully in how they advocate for equity in hiring and promotion practices as well as other important company policies.Â
To begin with, many of these business leaders, well-intentioned and otherwise, are simply unaware of the ways and degree to which they have enjoyed automatic advantages because of their race and gender. They may not realize that even “meritocracy†— a concept speciously championed by politicians like Texas governor Greg Abbott — often fails to account for how the barrier-ridden realities of life keep non-white and other marginalized workers from achieving the same successes as their white male peers, despite their best efforts and sacrifices.Â
Others have additional conscious or unconscious racial biases and are unwilling to fully examine how these function in their own career or in company operations, much less invest the time and resources needed to eliminate them in the workplace.
Far from what Americans might expect in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and increased awareness of racial inequalities, many companies are actually cutting DEI staff rather than stepping up related efforts.Â
Although corporations actively sought out these professionals between September 2019 and September 2020, DEI roles began facing mass elimination just months after the death of George Floyd. This downward trend has been driven in large part by a slow economy, cooling interest in corporate accountability with regard to racial equity, and public whitelash against the principles that drive DEI as a whole. Related job cuts exist across all industries, but most notably in top tech firms.
In addition to all of these factors, the Supreme Court recently ruled that affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional. In short, it is requiring higher education institutions to eliminate race-conscious aspects of admissions (which take racial barriers into account) for race-neutral ones (which don’t).Â
This decision may also have a legal impact on affirmative action hiring practices. Although employers cannot lawfully discriminate against employees based on a protected status like race, they may, conversely, run into other legal challenges if they use race-conscious policies like those used by many universities. Employers are also likely to be concerned with avoiding backlash and lawsuits from prospective and actual employees who believe they were discriminated against because of their white race or male gender.
Your company can overcome current challenges to DEI efforts in the workforce. Educating yourself, your coworkers, and your direct reports about ethically and legally sound DEI policies is a great place to start. You can learn about this by reading books like The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace by HR strategist Shereen Daniels, which offers a four-part approach for tackling structural racism in the workplace.Â
The Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition (ARCC) is an inclusive coalition of dedicated people committed to eradicating racism and spreading anti-racism throughout our communities, countries, and the world. We work to help and educate people on their transformative journey to anti-racism by providing access to related support and resources. On [fill in date and time and link to social media or website landing page], ARCC welcomed Shereen Daniels, who visited us as part of her book tour.
You can help us to build a racism-free world. Subscribe to receive news and updates about our work. Be sure to check out our newsletters and ARCC of Change podcast series. Show your commitment to anti-racism by purchasing ARCC merchandise or by making a donation.Â
Evansville, In.:  Bouncing back once again following a loss on Friday in Peoria, the Thunderbolts turned the tables in a high-offense game, defeating the Rivermen 5-4 at Ford Center on Saturday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, March 1st against the Quad City Storm, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
Despite a much better first period for Evansville, the Rivermen took the first lead of the game as Chase Spencer scored with 23 seconds to go in the period. In response, Evansville exploded for four goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead; Starting the goal rush was Brendan Harrogate, scoring from Matthew Hobbs and Vadim Vasjonkin on a 2-on-1 rush at 1:38 to tie the game at 1-1. Mark Zhukov put Evansville ahead by firing a shot through a screen, assisted by Matt Dorsey at 3:12. On a power play, Matthew Hobbs deflected in a shot to make it 3-1, assisted by Dorsey and Zhukov at 9:13. Only 45 seconds later, Myles Abbate made it 4-1 by tucking in a puck around the Rivermen goaltender at 9:58 from Zhukov.
The fourth goal would result in a Peoria goaltending change, with Mario Cavaliere replaced by Nick Latinovich. The Rivermen controlled play for a long stretch after the swap, and at 13:25 pulled back to within 4-2 as Alec Hagaman scored on a power play. The third period was mostly scoreless until the final few minutes, when Braydon Barker added another power play goal at 16:48 to pull Peoria back to within one goal. Immediately afterward, the Thunderbolts gained a power play thanks to Dorsey powering to the Rivermen net to draw a penalty, and Bronson Adams, in his professional debut, scored on the ensuing power play from Abbate and Hobbs to give Evansville a 5-3 lead with only 57 seconds remaining. Peoria got one back however, as Hagaman scored again with 38 seconds remaining to make it 5-4. The Thunderbolts survived the final rush with Latinovich pulled, and Evansville held on to win the game and split the weekend with the Rivermen, maintaining a 5-point lead above the playoff line.
Zhukov and Hobbs each finished with a goal and two assists, Abbate with a goal and assist, and Harrogate along with Adams with one goal each.  Dorsey tallied a pair of assists, while Ty Taylor made 35 saves on 39 shots faced for his 2nd win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, March 22nd at Ford Center.
VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) came through for the Blazers when they needed him the most Saturday night, hitting 11 of 12 second half free throws to help the No. 8-ranked VU Trailblazers pick up an 87-79 victory over Olney Central College.
With this win, the Trailblazers now move in front of the Blue Knights, gaining a half-game lead over Olney Central for the top spot in the Region 24 standings.
The Trailblazers were also without Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin Saturday night, who was serving a one game suspension after being ejected from Wednesday night’s win over Southwestern Illinois.
Longtime VU Assistant Coach Brian Davis served as acting Head Coach Saturday night and helped guide the Trailblazers to victory.
Vincennes got off to a slow start Saturday night and really took some time to get their feet under them before striking with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 16-12 lead over the Blue Knights.
The VU lead would grow to 23-18 before the Blue Knights answered back to take a 24-23 lead.
The lead changed hands eight times in the span of a few minutes of game clock before the Blazers truly separated themselves with a 9-0 scoring run late in the first half to take a 39-31 lead.
Olney would cut into the deficit before half but were unable to regain the lead as VU headed into the locker room leading 41-35 at the break.
The second half was again more of a back-and-forth battle, with VU using a string of trading two baskets for one to help grow the first double-digit lead of the game at 52-42 early in the second half.
VU would grow their lead to the largest margin of the game at 66-49 midway through the final half of play before the Blue Knights looked to battle back and get another late comeback.
Slowly Olney Central chipped away at the VU lead, cutting the deficit down to 10 at 75-65 and getting the VU lead back down to single digits at 78-70.
Olney Central would get within six points late in the game but were unable to fully erase the VU lead as Vincennes put the game away at the free throw line to pick up the 87-79 victory over the Blue Knights.
“We would have loved to have Coach Franklin here tonight obviously,†VU Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Brian Davis said. “I thought the guys really battled hard and got the win. Coach Glash is a great coach and they have a very good team. They have beaten a lot of people and they are going to beat a lot of people. We’ve been to Hutch a number of times since I’ve been here and I think that’s they type of team that could get out there and do something.â€
“Olney is a hard team to guard,†Davis added. “They are not really big, so their guards can all shoot. They are quick and they come at you for 40 minutes. But I thought our guys have been really locked in all week. We had a good gameplan coming into tonight and really competed for 40 minutes and were able to make enough plays to get it done.â€
VU was led offensively by a pair of double-doubles from the guard position, first by freshman Lebron Thomas, who etched his name into the VU 30-point club with 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, setting career-highs in points and rebounds to earn his first collegiate double-double.
Sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) was against all over the court Saturday night, ending his night with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, recording his first collegiate double-double and setting a new career-high in rebounds as well.
Sophomore Kent King (Washington, D.C.) came off the bench to get the VU offense going early, scoring 12 of his 15 points in the first 20 minutes of action while also ending with five rebounds on the night.
Sophomore Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky.) played some big minutes off the bench to end his night with nine points and three rebounds, while freshman Damarien Yates (Somerville, Tenn.) ended with seven points and three rebounds.
The Trailblazers controlled the glass all game long, besting the Blue Knights in the rebounding margin 45-24 Saturday night.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Indiana women’s swimming and diving won its seventh Big Ten Championship – first since 2019 – on Saturday (Feb. 24), outscoring runner-up and four-time defending champion Ohio State by one-half of a point.
TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 1,359
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers closed out their final home game of the 2023-24 regular season Saturday night, pulling away early and cruising to a 90-61 win over the Lady Blue Knights.
VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks adjusted the starting lineup specifically for sophomore night, electing to start all five Lady Trailblazer sophomores, Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia), Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.), Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.), Najra Voloder (Konjic, Bosnia) and Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France).
Early on Saturday night, these five struggled to score, with the Lady Blue Knights striking first and scoring the first eight points of the game.
Vincennes would respond back however, battling all the way back with the help of a 17-2 scoring run to take a 17-10 lead.
The Lady Blazers would not surrender this lead for the rest of the game as VU closed out the first quarter holding a 19-16 advantage.
VU continued to add on to their lead in the second quarter with a 12-0 scoring run and outscored Olney Central 27-12 in the second quarter to lead 46-28 at the halftime break.
Vincennes helped put the game away early in the second half with an 8-0 run early in the third quarter, followed by an 11-0 run later in the period to lead 69-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
Olney Central looked to make a late comeback in the fourth but were unable to battle back as VU ultimately put the game away late with a 12-0 scoring run as Vincennes cruised down the stretch to pick up the 90-61 victory over the Lady Blue Knights.
The Lady Trailblazers were led by another double-double by sophomore Elikya Baseyila, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Saturday marks Elikya’s 10th double-double of the season, 22nd of her VU career and Baseyila officially moves into third place all-time in VU Lady Trailblazer history with 531 career rebounds.
Reigning NJCAA Division I Player of the Week freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) had another strong game off the bench for the Lady Blazers, finishing with a game-high 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Sophomore Katrina Litte got the scoring going early, connecting on a pair of first half threes on her way to 15 points and five assists on the night.
Freshmen Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Karina Scott (Noblesville, Ind.) round out the VU double-figure scorers with Tucker adding 11 points and Scott finishing with 10 points and three assists off the bench.
Sophomore Brie Miller continues to lead by example with her tough, physical play, leading the Lady Blazers with five steals to go along with eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Lady Trailblazers will look to keep this hot streak going into next week when the Blazers hit the road Wednesday, Feb. 28 to face off against Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill. Tip-off time for the Lady Blazers is set for 6 p.m. eastern.
VU defeated the Lady Statesmen earlier this season 100-68 in the P.E. Complex, getting a big boost from 18 points and six assists from Destinee Hooks and a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double by Brie Miller.
LOUISVILLE, Ken. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Tennis (1-5) took a hard loss to a talented Indiana University (10-3) group, 4-0, Saturday Evening at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Screaming Eagles and Hoosiers played their match at a neutral site hosted by the University of Louisville.
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Doubles: USI lost all three doubles decisions with freshman Eytan Michaeli (Beer Shiva, Israel)/junior Quinten Gillespie (Whiteland, Indiana) duo coming up close in a 6-3 loss at number two.
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Singles: It did not take long for the Hoosiers to capture the match and take care of the Eagles after securing three straight singles points. Senior Dylan Brown (Evansville, Indiana) dropped the first matchup with a 6-0, 6-2 loss at number five before junior Blake Deaton (Indianapolis, Indiana) followed with
MACOMB, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball made it close in the final 30 seconds, but lost at Western Illinois University, 82-76, Saturday afternoon in Macomb, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles drop to 8-21 overall and 5-11 in OVC play, while the Leathernecks are 18-11 overall, 11-5 OVC.
With the loss, USI falls into a tie for eighth with Tennessee Tech University with a pair of games left in the regular season for both squads. The Screaming Eagles, who host Lindenwood University Thursday and Southeast Missouri State University Saturday, owns the tiebreaker if Morehead State University is the top seed in the upcoming tournament.
The TTU Golden Eagles are scheduled to visit the University of Tennessee at Martin Thursday and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Saturday to finish the 2023-24 regular season. TTU has the tiebreaker with USI if UT Martin or Little Rock finishes ahead of MSU.
The top eight teams at the end of OVC play advance to the league tournament March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville.
The opening half saw control of the game bounce back and forth with six lead changes and four ties. The Screaming Eagles posted their largest lead of the game with 9:46 to play in the first half. WIU would make a run to the end of the first half, outscoring USI, 23-11, to post a 39-33 advantage at halftime.
The second half saw WIU continue to increase the margin to as much as 13 points twice. USI would start to chip away at the margin following the second 13-point deficit with 10:19 to play, 65-52.
The Screaming Eagles used an 18-9 lead to close to 74-72 with 57 seconds to play in the game. USI junior forward Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) led the charge with nine points as the Screaming Eagles went eight-of-12 from the field during the run.
After four WIU free throws, USI would close to within two points one last time, 78-76, on a steal and bucket by sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) with 12 seconds to play. That would be as close as USI would come in the final seconds as WIU closed out the 82-76 final.
In the scoring column, Hernandez led the Eagles with a game-high 27 points. The junior guard, who is averaging 22.3 points per game in the last four contests, eight of 18 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 10-of-14 from the stripe.
Smith followed with 20 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds for this 12th double-double of the season. The sophomore guard/forward was seven-of-16 from the field, including a three, and five-of-six from the line.
Next Up For USI:
USI concludes the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of home games, hosting Lindenwood University February 29 and Southeast Missouri State University March 2. The USI-SEMO contest on March 2 is Senior Day for the Screaming Eagles.
The Lions of Lindenwood are 8-21 overall, 2-14 OVC, and have lost seven-straight after falling to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 82-73, at home this afternoon.
USI, which is 7-0 all-time versus the Lions, took the first meeting with Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri, winning 73-62, December. Eagles’ sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith led USI to the victory with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez and sophomore forward Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) followed with 16 points and 11 points, respectively.
SEMO Redhawks are 8-21 overall, 3-13 OVC, after losing to the University of Tennessee at Martin, 82-72, at home today. The Redhawks, who visit MSU Thursday before visiting USI, have lost five-straight after today’s action.
USI, which trails the all-time series with the Redhawks, 5-3, lost the opening game of the season series with SEMO in 2023-24, falling in overtime, 93-91, on a last second shot in the extra period. Hernandez led the Eagles with a career-high 35 points, while Smith had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Purple Aces gear up for their final meet of the indoor season
Co-hosted by Valparaiso and UIC, the Purple Aces will see full Valley competition for the first time all season. UE has raced against a handful of MVC teams in Indiana State, Belmont, Southern Illinois, Murray State, and Illinois State. But it will be Evansville’s first time seeing Valpo, UIC, Bradley, Northern Iowa, Drake and Missouri State. In the pre-championship poll, Murray State was picked to be the winning team on the women’s side while Indiana State was picked on the men’s side. The Aces finished 12th and 10th in each poll respectively.
UE heads into indoor championships at 24th in the Great Lakes Region on the men’s side and 32nd on the women’s side according to the most recent USTFCCA weekly rankings. On the men’s side Evansville holds 8 top 20 positions in The Valley with four top 11 spots in the field and on the track.
On the track, Cedrik Flipo leads in the 800m at an 8th place spot with his time of 1:52.86 set at the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic. Flipo also aids the 4 x 400 Relay team where they sit 5th in The Valley. In the field Zach Dove and Jayden Hayes in the weight throw with matching distances of 17.83m. While Zach Dove also put up a top-20 performance in the shot put with a distance of 15.53m. For the women, the Aces are led by Nicole Prauchner in the 800m who sits 9th in the MVC with a time of 2:11.99 and also aids in the 4x400m relay’s time of 3:58.59. Freshman Gwen Darrah leads the UE in the field with a weight throw with a distance of 14.45m for 14th in The Valley.
The Aces enter a young and competitive squad into the championship this year. Going into Sunday, UE has 8 events cracking the top 20 all held by sophomores or freshman athletes. Many of those young athletes have set new records for the program, including freshman runner Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS), Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS), and Flipo. In total, Evansville has set 18 program records across track and field events.
The Aces last competed at the Indiana State Open where the men had their highest team finish of the year in fourth while the women finished seventh. The most succesful race for UE was the women’s 800-meter race, where Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria) earned first place with a meet record of 2:13.51. Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland) and Eilen Brenne (Skien, Norway) also set meet records with times of 2:17.04 and 2:17.48 respectively. Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada) also finished in the top five with a time of 2:19.03 for four top five finishes in the event.
JACKSONVILLE, Ala.—University of Southern Indiana Softball suffered a pair of setbacks Saturday at the Cocky Classic. The Screaming Eagles fell to host Jacksonville State University, 12-4, in five innings in the opener, before falling, 12-4, in five innings to Belmont University in the second game.
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In the opener, the Screaming Eagles had a promising start to the contest when freshman designated player Alyssa Mumaw (Greenfield, Indiana) hit an RBI-double in the top of the first inning to give USI a 1-0 advantage.
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Junior second baseman Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) opened the second inning with a double and reached third with no outs as USI looked as if it might add to its lead.
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Jax State (5-9), however, got out of the jam unscathed before tagging the Eagles with seven runs in the bottom of the second to take a commanding six-run lead. The Gamecocks added two more in the bottom of the third and three in the last half of the fourth as their lead ballooned to 12-1 heading into the fifth.
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USI made a run in the fifth, scoring three times in an attempt to keep the game from ending in a run rule. A lead-off triple by sophomore outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) set up sophomore Olivia Money (Fort Branch, Indiana) for a pinch-hit RBI-single to right field.
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The proceeded to load the bases with a single and a walk in the following at-bats, setting up freshman Kate Satkoski (Lanesville, Indiana) for a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly to bring in the second run.
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Sophomore second baseman Julianna Hibbs (Henderson, Kentucky) drove in the third run of the inning with an RBI-single, but that’s as close as USI would get as Jax State closed the door on the comeback attempt with a strikeout.
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Junior pitcher Whitley Hunter (Nashville, Illinois) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs off four hits in a little over an inning of work. As a hole, Jax State finished with 11 hits on the morning.
Like the first game, the Eagles opened the second game with a 1-0 lead following a run-scoring single by senior catcher Sammie Kihega(Greenfield, Indiana) in the bottom of the first inning.
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Belmont (6-4), however, answered with a tally in the top half of the second inning before erupting for five runs in the third frame and a commanding 6-1 advantage.
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After loading the bases in the bottom of the third, the Eagles were able to get a run back to cut the deficit to 6-2; but a two-run fourth inning followed by a four-run fifth put the Bruins up 12-2.
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An RBI-double by Money, followed by an RBI-single by junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the bottom of the fifth got the Eagles back to within 12-4, but that was as close as USI would get as a ground-out and a fly-out would strand two Eagles on base.
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Newman (2-3) took the loss for the Eagles after giving up 12 runs, five earned, off eight hits. She also surrendered six walks while fanning five batters.
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