Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has been hindered by a noncompete, former Google and Meta exec Lexi Reese is running to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and SCOTUS’s affirmative action decision will roll back progress on diversity in the workplace. The Broadsheet is off for July Fourth next Monday and Tuesday; we’ll be back in your inbox July 5. Have a restful weekend.
– Ripple effects. The Supreme Court yesterday, as expected, gutted affirmative action in higher education. No longer can colleges and universities consider race as a factor in deciding college admissions.
In the 6-3 decision over college admissions at the University of North Carolina, the court’s liberal female justices banded together to dissent. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored a dissent in which she argues that the majority fails to see the reality of the world we live in. “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life,” Jackson wrote.
In her own dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argues that the decision will “further entrenc[h] racial inequality in education.” Colleges are likely to admit more privileged students, white students, and legacy admission students, whose family histories are still allowed to be considered—a loss for qualified applicants who don’t fall into those categories and to college communities as a whole.
The ripple effects of those decisions will extend beyond higher education to the workplace. In the near term, companies may experience a chilling effect on their own diversity and inclusion efforts. They may face internal pushback over D&I initiatives and legal challenges over hiring and promotion practices. Corporate efforts are not governed by the Supreme Court’s decision, but the outcome may embolden those who seek to attack corporate diversity via other legal avenues.
As Paige McGlauflin and Trey Williams reported for Fortune, some D&I professionals are questioning whether they will soon even be able to use race and ethnicity as an identifier.
In the long term, companies that recruit from elite institutions—already a limited talent pool—will be going after an even less diverse group of graduates. It’s on businesses to find broader hiring pools elsewhere, whether that’s recruiting more from historically Black colleges and universities or moving toward skills-based hiring and loosening degree requirements for some positions.
As Jackson wrote, the court’s decision “condemns our society to never escape the past”—at school and at work.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
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- Noncompete. A few weeks into her role as CEO of Twitter, Linda Yaccarino has been hamstrung in her ability to be hands-on with advertisers because of a noncompete clause from her previous employer, NBCUniversal. It isn’t clear when that will end, but her first few weeks have signaled what her strategy might be: get friendly with the media, improve employee morale, and listen to advertisers. New York Times
- Too personal. Some women who were considered for jobs at Bill Gates' private offices underwent screenings they called inappropriate as they said they were questioned about their past sexual partners, drug use, and other private details. An external security firm conducted those interviews, and job candidates said that the firm intended to find information that could make candidates vulnerable to blackmail. A spokeswoman from Gates Ventures said it hadn't heard of such questioning and it would be "unacceptable." Wall Street Journal
- Tight-lipped. Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has chilled corporate America's public support for the community. Mentions of "Pride Month" in filings and earnings calls from April to June have dropped nearly 40% compared to last year. Bloomberg
- Ready for a refill. The trendy aperitif startup Haus cofounded by Helena Hambrecht is back in venture capitalists' hands with a new buyer: Naked Market food and beverage incubator. Haus and its millennial aesthetic shut down suddenly nearly a year ago after an investor rescinded its funding offer. Hambrecht denounced VC as a growth path for startups when Haus ran out of money. San Francisco Chronicle
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Jolawn Victor and Mindel Klein have joined the board at Jebbit. Laguna Health has appointed Evelyn Daniels as VP of business development. Lata Reddy and Laura Jones are joining the board of directors at UNICEF USA.
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- Yellen abroad. In her latest plea for greater collaboration with China, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she would meet with a new group of leaders on her upcoming July trip to Beijing. “We need to discuss our disagreements with one another so that we don’t have misunderstandings, don’t misunderstand one another’s intentions," she said. Bloomberg
- Political debut. Former Google and Facebook executive Lexi Reese is making her political debut in a run for California's Senate seat up for grabs due to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's retirement. While she is likely to trail far behind other candidates in terms of campaign funds, the already-crowded field could have an unintended advantage for Reese as she picks up voters in a splintered base. Fortune
- 'Plumbmaid.' A 2022 national survey indicates just 2.4% of plumbers in the U.K. are women, but some women are trying to change that. Hattie Hasan, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, said that she has found other women plumbers to work with through TikTok and Facebook groups. She also says that the profession can be a good fit for women who have to juggle many responsibilities, even if it means combatting some gender bias in the industry. BBC
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Barbie, mermaids, and Taylor Swift: Welcome to Tween Girl Summer Fast Company
Hand Ashley Park the keys Vulture
Queer representation in video games has never been better—let’s not stop now The Guardian
A trailblazing ballerina’s final bow Harper's Bazaar
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"Look what my career has been made of: problem, solution, problem, solution. And if it’s not me, then who’s gonna go do it?"
—Bumble CEO and cofounder Whitney Wolfe Herd on stepping up to address abortion rights
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