L: NASA JPL diversity officer Neela Rajendra R: NASA logo at the Jet Propulsion Lab (nasa.gov)

Equity in space: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory let go nearly 900 workers last year due to budget cuts. The layoffs impacted both technical and support staff at the lab, which creates land rovers that have reached Mars. They did not impact the lab's chief inclusion officer, Neela Rajendra.

She is best known for arguing that "extreme deadline[s]" are an "obstacle to inclusion." While NASA closed its central diversity office earlier this year in response to a Trump executive order, Rajendra survived because "the lab created a new role for her—one with many of the same duties as the old one," our Aaron Sibarium reports.

"Instead of chief inclusion officer, the lab explained in a March 10 email, Rajendra would henceforth serve as the 'Chief of the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success,'" writes Sibarium. "The title change provides one of the most clear cut examples yet of how institutions are seeking to circumvent Trump's ban on DEI by renaming diversity offices and shuffling staff."

READ MORE: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab Laid Off 900 Workers Due to Budget Cuts—But Hasn’t Fired Its Top DEI Officer

Harvard’s turn in the barrel: Amid its ongoing battle with Columbia, the Trump administration announced it will investigate Harvard University's $9 billion worth of federal grants and contracts.

A source familiar with the probe told us that the task force will be "just as aggressive" with Harvard as with Columbia, and if Harvard fails to take "meaningful actions" to address anti-Semitism this week, the administration will "not hesitate" to start terminating grants.

READ MORE: Trump Admin To Review $9 Billion in Harvard Grants and Contracts Over 'Anti-Semitic Discrimination' and 'Divisive Ideologies'

New boss, same as the old boss: Brand new Columbia University president Claire Shipman released her first statement following Katrina Armstrong's resignation on Friday. When it came to the topic on everyone's mind—her commitment to the Trump-imposed policy changes Columbia appeared to agree to—she was about as non-committal as her predecessor.

It’s a "precarious moment" for Columbia, Shipman said. No s—t, Sherlock. She pledged to be "as transparent as possible" while "navigating what's to come" and vowed to "continue to build on the significant progress we've made, and the plan outlined to move our community forward." Inspiring.

READ MORE: In First Message as Columbia President, Claire Shipman Pledges To 'Build On' Plan 'To Move Our Community Forward'

Away from the Beacon:

White House correspondents reportedly floated the idea of a "Civil Rights era-style ‘sit-in’ protest" in response to the Trump administration’s proposal to change the briefing room seating chart. No, really.

The Navy veteran who secured a multimillion-dollar defamation payout from CNN, Zachary Young, filed a new lawsuit on Friday, this time taking aim at Puck for its "republication of CNN's defamatory lies."

Under Joe Biden, the EPA opened a museum in Washington, D.C.—a tribute to itself. That museum cost $600,000 a year to operate, according to Trump's EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, who promptly closed it.

In an interview with the New York Times, "Socialist superstar" AOC heaped praise one swing-district colleague Jared Golden, calling him a "front-liner" who is aligned "on Medicare for all." Golden wanted nothing to do with it, saying, "the folks back home know that I am not driving in the same direction she is." Ouch.

Check out our full Tuesday lineup below.

Source link