Diversity & Equality

High-schooler Jack Bowerman started “Jack’s Run for Down syndrome” to help advocate for his sister who has Down syndrome. Now, he and his dad Bret are running 260 miles from New York to D.C. to raise awareness about making sure those with disabilities get access to fair wages. News4’s Melissa Mollet reports. 

The National Park Service has reversed edits and restored content to its webpage about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.

Books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library this week. It came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office ordered the school to get rid of books that promote diversity, equity and inclusion....

As a condition for receiving federal money, the Trump administration is ordering K-12 schools to certify that they are following federal civil rights laws and ending any discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion practices. A notice sent Thursday by the Education Department gives states and schools 10 days to sign and return the certification. It’s the latest escalation against DEI policies,…

Days after the Department of Education announced it will not pay school districts hundreds of millions of dollars in promised COVID-19 relief funds, Maryland leaders say they may take the budget battle to court. News4’s Walter Morris reports.

A prominent historian is raising concerns as Arlington National Cemetary updates its website to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to remove all mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion. News4’s Walter Morris reports.

The Department of Education launched civil rights investigations into 45 universities, including three D.C.-area schools, on Friday over allegations that those schools had violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. According to a press release from the department, the alleged violations happened because the universities worked with “The PhD Project,” a relatively small organization aimed at helping underrepresented…

Three local universities — George Mason University, Georgetown University and Towson University — are on the list of schools being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

An Idaho teacher is in a standoff with her own school district after officials ordered her to remove classroom signs, including one that reads, “Everyone is welcome here.”  Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade history teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Meridian, Idaho, says she won’t comply with the order, arguing that the message is a fundamental part to ensuring...

The U.N. began commemorating the holiday in 1975, which was International Women’s Year, and its General Assembly officially recognized the day two years later.

The first Black superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute says his forced departure is the result of politics rather than his job performance. VMI’s board voted last week against renewing its contract for Retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins. The board’s decision follows diversity and inclusion efforts that were implemented under Wins’ leadership. Wins said in a statement Thursday that...

The two-block stretch of 16th Street NW north of the White House was designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza after the murder of George Floyd. News4’s Joseph Olmo reports.

The U.S. Forest Service has terminated $75 million awarded to the Arbor Day Foundation to help disadvantaged communities plant trees.

A new program to increase diversity in the health care industry pairs Howard University students with medical professionals to offer valuable insight. News4’s Dominique Moody explains how it helps students achieve their medical dreams.

Some prominent companies have scaled back or set aside the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that much of corporate America endorsed following the protests that accompanied the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020.

A new JUST 100 list of America’s “most just” companies is out, with a little less DEI and ESG, and a touch of MAGA. 

A letter to the affected employees obtained by NBC News said they would continue to receive their full salaries and benefits and would not be required to do any work-related tasks.

The Pentagon’s intelligence arm has barred any celebrations related to MLK Jr. Day, Women’s History Month and other such observances to comply with Trump’s executive orders.

Civil rights activists gathered outside Target’s headquarters to call for a boycott of the retailing giant over its decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Several major companies like Target, Walmart and McDonald’s have begun to roll back DEI programs in the wake of a Republican-driven effort to disband the push for workplace and school equality.