Social media campaigns and shareholder proposals press companies to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling on race-conscious college admissions does not apply to private employers, but opponents of corporate DEI programs invoke it in pressing companies to change course, and the 2023 proxy season sees a marked rise in shareholder proposals opposing such programs. From mid-2024, campaigns organized on X by activist Robby Starbuck target individual firms including Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, and Lowe’s, several of which announce changes to their diversity commitments.
What Is Not Established Here
This entry previously stated that the ruling “is subsequently cited by several companies as the stated basis for revising their own policies.” No cited source supports that. The slip opinion cannot, and the CNN piece does not mention the Supreme Court at all. What the sources do establish is weaker and differently shaped: the ruling emboldened opponents of corporate DEI, who invoked it against programs it did not legally reach. Whether any particular company gave it as its own reason is not established here.
A truth-social platform link was also removed. The CNN source describes Starbuck’s campaigns as organised on X — “Truth Social” appears nowhere in it, and no other cited source mentions the platform.