Smith was hired last June just as the Republican state legislators sent their ransom note to UW System Chancellor Jay Rothman. Smith was able to write a new chapter in her life; Antoinette Candia-Bailey was forced to write her final chapter. Smith has accepted a similar job at another university. Candia-Bailey, the vice president of student affairs at the historically Black Lincoln University, committed suicide earlier this year after claims of harassment and bullying by university president John Moseley.

African American women are in the direct crosshairs of conservatives’ campaign to destroy, dismantle and desecrate DEI. These extremists have mockingly rebranded the acronym to Didn’t Earn It. Black women are victims of double discrimination (race and gender) which compels them to work even harder to overcome the hurdles put in front of them. This socialization makes them uniquely qualified for positions dealing with diversity, inclusion, and equity.

President Moseley and Chancellor Rothman are not the only white men in authority buckling to the MAGA demands across the country. We do not know what ultimatum Moseley was given but Rothman’s admonishment played out in public. Among the threats he faced were cutting $32 million from the budget and putting a pause on the pay raises of 35,000 UW System employees.

The heinous public killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop took racism and equity issues to a new high. DEI positions and departments soared from the corporate sector to the sports world. Job sites like Indeed reported that DEI postings more than doubled in the year after Floyd’s murder.

The whitelash was swift. Conservative activists moved into action. The racist assault on DEI got a big boost from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to strike down affirmation action at the campus level even though the decision did not cover corporate diversity programs. The anti-diversity machine was already revved up, so it might as well run over anything resembling DEI in its path. This includes staff, programs, vendors, training and public initiatives.

So, say good-bye to the likes of Dr. Sherita Golden, former head of DEI at Johns Hopkins University. Say farewell to the whole DEI kit and caboodle at University of Florida. Three years after the outpouring of concern about race and justice, we saw a 40 percent dip in diversity jobs and programs. We will continue saying adios to DEI until something creatively political happens to change the downward spiral.

There are some observers who say that the corporate and academic commitment to diversity and equity were reactionary and shallow. There’s definitely truth to that line of thinking, but something powerful was starting to take root and grow or else we would not be witnessing the slow and painful death of DEI.