logo
UNH pulls DEI webpage, changes a staffer's title and certain hiring practices as state DEI law takes effect

UNH pulls DEI webpage, changes a staffer's title and certain hiring practices as state DEI law takes effect

Boston Globe5 days ago
Advertisement
Academic and administrative leaders were also asked to remove DEI-related content on their websites as the review takes place, according to Chilton.
Get N.H. Morning Report
A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Chilton said the new law had also prompted changes to hiring and promotion practices, ending the use of diversity statements, which she said were previously optional and used infrequently.
The president also pointed to 'organizational adjustments,' like changing the job title of the university's chief diversity officer, a role
Now, Petty will temporarily hold the title of associate vice president for community, civil rights, and compliance.
'Nadine and her team will also play a key role in planning how UNH continues to foster a campus culture that supports access, belonging, and student success in a way that fully complies with state law,' Chilton said.
Advertisement
A university spokesperson declined to provide additional details about the temporary nature of this change, and whether the university anticipates reinstating the position.
One of the lawmakers who championed the DEI ban said the temporary measures should remain in effect.
'These temporary changes need to become permanent,' said state Representative Joseph Sweeney, a Salem Republican, in a
'UNH remains fully committed to providing educational access and opportunity, and to fostering a learning and working environment where all members of our community feel that they belong and can succeed,' Chilton said in her letter. 'However, the new law requires us to reexamine how we pursue these goals within its parameters.'
She said the university doesn't believe its current policies or practices conflict with the state law, but 'the broad language of the provision and the risk of significant financial penalties require us to take proactive steps to mitigate uncertainty.'
If a school is out of compliance with the DEI ban, the state can withhold all of its public funding, according to the law.
Public K-12 schools are also explicitly prohibited from implementing DEI-related initiatives.
The Manchester School District has changed the job title of its former chief equity officer to executive director of student engagement, outcomes, and success.
Deb Howes, president of the teacher's union AFT-NH, said there are relatively few DEI positions in New Hampshire that might be affected by the new law. At its peak, she estimated there were about five DEI positions.
Advertisement
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

News Analysis: The healthcare cuts approved by Trump, Republicans go well beyond Medicaid
News Analysis: The healthcare cuts approved by Trump, Republicans go well beyond Medicaid

Los Angeles Times

timean hour ago

  • Los Angeles Times

News Analysis: The healthcare cuts approved by Trump, Republicans go well beyond Medicaid

SACRAMENTO — The federal safety-net healthcare system for low-income and disabled Americans, Medicaid, won't be the only medical coverage devastated by the package of spending cuts and tax breaks signed into law by President Trump on the Fourth of July. Covered California, the state's Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, estimates that as many as 660,000 of the roughly 2 million people in the program will either be stripped of coverage or drop out due to increased cost and the onerous new mandates to stay enrolled. Those who do stay could be hit with an average monthly premium increase of up to 66%. This is Phil Willon, the L.A. Times California politics editor, filling in for columnist George Skelton this week. To find out more about how the millions of Californians who rely on Covered California for health insurance will be affected by Trump's megabill, I spoke with Jessica Altman, the organization's executive director. We spoke on Thursday, while the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives was voting to approve the reconciliation legislation. According to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the package will lead to 11.8 million more people going without health insurance nationwide over the next decade. Covered California serves as a marketplace exchange for state residents seeking healthcare insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, allowing them to select from name-brand insurance providers and choose from a variety of coverage plans. 'A quarter of the people we cover are sole proprietors. That's everything from mom-and-pop Etsy shops to a consultant, a highly educated tech worker in San Francisco doing contract work. We really have that full spectrum,' Altman said. Covered California also serves as a health insurance sanctuary for residents whose income rises enough for them to lose eligiblity for Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California, or those who work for companies that don't provide benefits. The current cost for basic coverage ranges from $0 a month for individuals earning around $21,000 — just above the income eligibility for Medi-Cal — to 8.5% of the income of people making $75,000 or more, Altman said. The vast majority of Californians receive federal subsidies to lower their premiums, including many middle-income families who had become eligible when Congress expanded the financial assistance in 2021. Those subsidies were not renewed in the Trump megabill. In theory, the Republican-led Congress could remedy that before the end of the year but, given that Trump spent most of his first term in office trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the odds of that appear slim. 'We have many, many people paying less than $10 a month for their health insurance. We're going to lose that price for sure,' Altman said. 'We also have people, that person making $75,000 a year … they're going to lose all of their tax credits and potentially pay hundreds more a month.' And that price increase will start to hit home in four months, when Covered California's open enrollment signup period begins for 2026. Thousands of Californians will drop their coverage because they can no longer afford the expense, Altman predicts. 'This is a moment where Americans and Californians are so financially strained: Their rent, their food, their gas, their child care, all of their transportation, all of these things,' Altman said. 'They are not in a position today where they feel like any of those costs can rise by 66%.' Altman said the governor and California Legislature budgeted an additional $190 million for Covered California, which hopefully will help reduce the number of residents who will lose their healthcare coverage. But, she said, it's nowhere near enough to make up for the federal cuts. Approximately 112,000 lawful immigrants in California also will be stripped of premium tax credits and cost-sharing support, essentially pushing health coverage out of financial reach, she said. That includes immigrant groups that have been eligible for assistance for years, including those with work and student visas, refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking. 'They are limiting it so only green card holders and a couple of very nuanced categories of certain Cuban immigrants and certain immigrants from Pacific Island nations can get financial assistance,' Altman said. Immigrants who grew up in the United States after being brought here illegally as children, a group known as 'Dreamers,' will be stripped of their eligibility, Altman said. Thousands more Californians likely will drop coverage because of new burdensome verification requirements, including increased tax filings, and bureaucratic hurdles that must be overcome to maintain eligibility. California Gov. Gavin Newsom already has warned that the cuts to Medicaid in what Trump calls the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' a cornerstone of his second-term agenda, will lead to hospital and clinic closures, especially in the state's underserved rural areas. Altman said that impact will be exacerbated by the tens of thousands of Californians expected to lose their medical insurance they secured through Covered California. Medical facilities received higher compensation to care for patients who secured health insurance through Covered California than they do for patients on Medi-Cal. And hospitals and clinics will now take an even greater financial hit for caring for Californians with no health insurance, raising healthcare costs for everyone else. 'We know people will get less healthcare. They will not get their preventive care, they will not get their primary care at the rates that they do when they're covered,' Altman said. 'But when they really need care, they're going to go get it. They're going to get it at the emergency room, and our system is going to pay for it anyway.' The must-read: Valadao votes for a Trump megabill expected to disrupt healthcare for many in the Central Valley The TK: Gov. Newsom will visit South Carolina, a pivotal presidential primary state The L.A. Times Special: Kidnappers or ICE agents? LAPD grapples with surge in calls from concerned citizens —Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Republican Smullen cracks the door for potential NY-21 run
Republican Smullen cracks the door for potential NY-21 run

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Republican Smullen cracks the door for potential NY-21 run

Jul. 6—Assemblyman Robert J. Smullen, R-Meco, is not running for Congress in New York's 21st Congressional district. At least not yet, but he's openly signaling that if the Republican nomination comes open, he wants a shot at it. In an interview with the Watertown Daily Times on Wednesday, Smullen said he's not launching a campaign — but he's starting the process if the job does become free. "What I'm here to say is that I am not running for the New York 21 Congressional district, I want to make sure that's very clear," he said. "But I am interested, if there's a possibility of an opening, of what the potential could be for that seat for someone like me." Smullen said he believes his professional history, the fact that he's a native of the region and his legislative experience make him a prime candidate to represent NY-21 in Washington D.C. He quietly put his name in the running when it appeared that current Congresswoman Elise M. Stefanik would resign the seat for a job with the Trump administration and trigger a special election this spring — but that never came. "I thought then, as I thought now, that I would be a very strong, substantive candidate for the position, based on my experience," Smullen said. Smullen is a retired 24-year Marine colonel, former executive director of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District and has represented the 118th Assembly District covering the Mohawk Valley and Adirondacks since 2019. He has a masters of science from the National Defense University in resource management, and an extended national security background because of his military service. Smullen isn't declaring a campaign yet because the job isn't open — Stefanik has not declared a campaign for Governor and has filed the necessary documents to run for NY-21 again. Declaring a campaign now, when it's not assured that Stefanik won't be seeking the seat for a seventh term, would mean he's running against the Congresswoman, which he does not want to do. But if Stefanik does decide to run for governor, she'd no longer be able to run for Congress — and that would open up a possible primary for the Republican nomination. Smullen said, if he were to run, his platform would revolve around job creation and economic development — and he would closely match the Republican party line. "From my perspective as a current Assemblyman, and what I've worked on, it's all about jobs," he said. "It's about having good economic conditions for New York. It's about making sure that we do indeed close the border." He said fentanyl and human trafficking across the northern border between New York and Canada is a major issue — something that President Donald J. Trump has blasted the country over and enforced high tariffs in an attempt to stop. CBP data shows that less than 1% of all fentanyl smuggled into the country is brought from Canada, which has its own raging fentanyl crisis, and recent immigration data shows that border officers are encountering hundreds fewer migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. from Canada since Trump took office. In Congress, Smullen said he would be a conservative Republican, and said he would tack close to Trump. "I'm proud to be a conservative Republican, that aligns with the people in the upstate area I represent, putting upstate first, and if I were in Washington D.C. I would be very close with the policies that President Trump has out there today," he said. Loyalty to Trump is a must for the GOP candidate in NY-21; party officials look for it, Republican voters do as well and potential primary opponents use any perceived disagreement with the President as an attack line. Smullen has worked with the Trump White House — he was appointed to the Presidents Commission on White House Fellows in Trump's first term. The White House Fellows program operates similar to internships, placing top applicants in year-long assignments with White House senior staff. Smullen himself was a White House fellow in the Bush administration. On issues related to rural healthcare, Smullen said he would work to craft a program that sends more funding into rural hospitals — he said he's been working for years on a rural equity initiative at the state level that could be implemented nationally. On Medicaid, which the Trump policy bill passed on Thursday aims to make massive cuts to, Smullen said he believes policy should be cognizant of how many rural Americans rely on Medicaid. "About a third of New Yorkers are on Medicaid, so any consideration needs to absolutely take into account what the rural population looks like and how they're served by these programs," he said. Smullen has served on the state Assembly Social Services Committee, giving him firsthand knowledge of how the state and federal governments support welfare programs. He said he specifically sees an issue with "benefits cliffs," that discourage people from seeking higher income because they'd lose access to more things like SNAP or Medicaid that are more valuable than the extra money. "I've specifically advocated to change how benefits are calculated so there's not a benefits cliff where you all of the sudden fall off completely because your income is above a certain level," he said. He said he would prefer to see fewer people rely on public benefits, and orient the programs more to pushing people up and out of poverty than supporting them through extended poverty. Smullen has been signaling his potential run for a few weeks, speaking with media around upstate about the possibility. He said he's been speaking with voters and party officials, and will continue to do so. "My goal is to converse with everybody about this, and my indicating interest is a way to facilitate that among people that are already elected officials, that vote in elections in the north country, and everyone in general so they can get to know me before the time comes," he said. The candidate field for 2026 is somewhat hazy as of now — Blake Gendebien, who was picked by the Democratic party leadership to be their nominee in the special election that never came, has pledged to stick in the race but has not been very actively campaigning with over a year between now and the general election. Other potential Democratic candidates, including Paula Collins who ran against Stefanik in 2024 and Dylan Hewitt, who sought the nomination for the special election, have filed with the FEC and could potentially pursue the seat again. On the Republican side, Amsterdam businessman Anthony Constantino once signaled he would run for the seat in 2026 if he wasn't the pick for the special election, and has kept up a public profile that could lead to a run in the primary next year, although he would likely not run against Stefanik if she remains in the seat. The the special, support coalesced around other candidates including state Senator Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury, Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-Schoharie and former GOP candidate in NY-21, Elizabeth "Liz" Joy. Stefanik has signaled she would announce her bid for Governor shortly — if it does come, it's likely to spur a wave of announcements and interest in being her replacement.

Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff
Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff

Politico

time2 hours ago

  • Politico

Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff

Republicans finally got their 'big, beautiful bill' across the finish line. Now they're turning to their next urgent tasks: codifying billions in spending cuts and avoiding a government shutdown. The Senate plans to vote no earlier than next week on President Donald Trump's request for lawmakers to scrap $9.4 billion in previously approved funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the plans. That's running dangerously close to lawmakers' July 18 deadline to vote in favor of the rescissions package, or the administration will be forced to spend the money as Congress originally intended. GOP leaders have work to do to shore up votes for the package, which would formalize funding cuts previously sought by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative. Among the wary Republicans is top Senate Appropriator Susan Collins, who helped tank Trump's unsuccessful rescissions request back in 2018. The Maine Republican said during a late-June hearing with White House budget chief Russ Vought that reducing support for the AIDS-fighting program PEPFAR would be 'extraordinarily ill-advised and short-sighted;' Collins later told Calen that she's looking at 'drafting an alternative package of rescissions.' Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota have also echoed Collins' warnings about slashing money for public broadcasting, with Sullivan saying he's seeking an amendment for 'very rural' stations that would be affected by the White House proposal. Looming over the rescissions talks: appropriations. Senators will Thursday begin marking up their first batch of spending bills necessary to fund the government beyond the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30. Leaders are under immense pressure to allow votes on individual measures rather than seek to avert a shutdown with a massive omnibus, and more than anything else want to avoid having to pass another short-term stopgap. But the scheduled August recess will take away four weeks of time lawmakers would otherwise be in Washington to negotiate. The House has made some progress with its appropriations work, passing one bill so far and advancing four others out of committee. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) says he wants to complete all 12 markups by July 30. Yet even the typically bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Veterans' Affairs garnered only two Democratic votes on the chamber floor. It underscores how a process that once relied on buy-in between the two parties has become a largely partisan exercise — a risky situation for Republicans who can lose only three votes on their side of the aisle for party-line legislation. What else we're watching: — How lawmakers respond to the deadly flooding in Texas: Some state officials are sharply criticizing the National Weather Service for severely underestimating the rainfall in its forecasts. The White House on Sunday pushed back against attempts to link the administration's NWS staffing cuts to its inability to warn Texas residents about the storms. At least two members have been directly affected by the catastrophe: GOP Reps. August Pfluger of Texas and Buddy Carter of Georgia. Pfluger's daughter and Carter's granddaughters were rescued from a camp affected by the flooding, with Carter also sharing that his granddaughters' cousin was killed. — More reconciliation bills ahead: Riding high on a legislative win, Speaker Mike Johnson is sketching out a timeline for potentially pushing two more party-line packages through the reconciliation process this Congress. Watch what policy areas they'll address — and whether they include the priorities of key hard-liners who claimed they got certain assurances to support the megabill last week. — NDAA to shake up the Pentagon: House Armed Services is aiming to make it harder to withdraw troops from Europe and change how the Pentagon buys its weapons as it heads toward a markup next Tuesday of the annual defense bill. Senate Armed Services will mark up its version of the defense bill this week; the full panel debate is slated to begin Tuesday afternoon and will likely take several days. Jordain Carney, Gregory Svirnovskiy, Mia McCarthy and Connor O'Brien contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store