PBS is closing its diversity, equity, and inclusion office in order to comply with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order terminating DEI in the federal workforce.
The New York Times first reported the news on Monday.
“To ensure that we are complying with the President’s Executive Order we have closed our DEI office, and Cecilia Loving and Gina Leow are leaving PBS,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger said in a note to staff. “I know you join me in wishing them well in their future endeavors.”
Loving had been the senior vice president of DEI at PBS since 2021, and Weijin “Gina” Leow joined the same year as the director of DEI.
Kerger added PBS will remain a “welcoming place for everyone” and it will continue to “educate, engage, and inspire” a “wide variety of American communities.”
It is unclear how many employees overall will lose their jobs as a result of the DEI office closing down. PBS, according to its most annual DEI report covering 2022, said “BIPOC employees comprised 48% of new hires and 35% of promotions.” That same year, women accounted for 75% of new hires and 64% of promotions.
The move by PBS follows President Trump signing an executive order on Jan. 22 titled “Protecting Civil Rights and Expanding Individual Opportunity.”
President Trump’s executive order “terminates ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) discrimination in the federal workforce, and in federal contracting and spending.”
By canceling federal DEI programs, the order said it was “restoring the values of individual dignity, hard work, and excellence: Individual dignity, hard work, and excellence are fundamental to American greatness.”
Monday’s decision by PBS also comes a week after Elon Musk, who runs President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, suggested defunding National Public Radio. NPR , like PBS, is supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
