DEI vs MEI

There was a meme going around: DEI = Didn’t Earn It

It seems the idea caught on.

Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale, an AI data labeling company valued at $14 billion, who has received over $100 million in government related contracts and has investors that include Amazon and Meta, formally announced on X that the company will be hiring for MEI: merit, excellence, and intelligence.

Wang’s post reads:

"There is a mistaken belief that meritocracy somehow conflicts with diversity. I strongly disagree. No group has a monopoly on excellence. A hiring process based on merit will naturally yield a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas."

Robby Starbuck is a conservative activist dubbed "The Anti-D.E.I. Agitator" by a NY Times headline. According to Sigwatch, Starbuck has been "encouraging disaffected workers to reveal what their employees are doing on DEI internally."

To date, Walmart and Toyota have announced that they are modifying their DEI programs, and based on review of corporate statements, Reuters reports other companies include Deere, Harley-Davidson, Starbucks, Brown-Forman, Lowe's, Ford Motor, Molson Coors Beverage, Tractor Supply, JPMorgan Chase and Boeing.

SHRM, a leading HR organization, announced on LinkedIn that it would now be using the acronym "I&D" rather than DEI to focus on inclusion: "By emphasizing inclusion-first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs, which have led to societal backlash and increasing polarization."

DEI policies within universities are also being challenged. Students for Fair Admissions, a non-profit group that believes that "racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional," recently won its lawsuit against Harvard University with the Supreme Court holding that affirmative action in college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The move to end diversity statements as part of faculty hiring, promotion and tenure has also begun in colleges such as MIT, The University of Michigan, and Harvard's College of Art & Science. The University of Texas at Austin announced that it will be closing its Division of Campus and Community Engagement (DCCE) to comply with Senate Bill 17 (SB 17) a state law that bans DEI initiatives in public schools.

According to The Anti-DEI Legislation Tracker by The Chronicle of Higher Education based in Washington, D.C., 86 bills seeking to slash higher education DEI initiatives have been introduced in 28 states, and 14 bills have been signed into law.

When it comes to DEI and military mandates, Pete Hegseth, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, has been outspoken about his aim to end the military's commitment to diversity.

Appearing on the podcast, The Ben Shapiro Show, Hegseth stated:

"Any general that was involved, general, admiral whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke $%@! has got to go." Adding he says, "You've got to get DEI and CRT out of the Military Academy so you're not training young officers to be baptized in this type of thinking."

The Dismantle DEI Act of 2024, a proposed legislation by Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX) that would eliminate DEI practices within the federal government, has passed out of the House Oversight Committee on a party-line vote, 23-17.

Sources:

Alexandr Wang, CEO, Scale:

https://x.com/alexandr_wang/status/1801331034916851995

https://scale.com/

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/21/amazon-meta-back-scale-ai-in-1-billion-funding-deal.html

https://fortune.com/2024/05/21/scale-ai-funding-valuation-ceo-alexandr-wang-profitability/

Robby Starbuck, “The Anti-D.E.I. Agitator,” NYTimes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/01/business/dei-robby-starbuck.html

Sigwatch:

https://sigwatch.com/whos-afraid-of-anti-dei-heres-why-you-shouldnt-be/

Walmart DEI announcement:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/11/27/walmart-pulls-back-on-dei-could-we-see-more-companies-adopting-mei/