This week, Major League Baseball (MLB) launched a realigned MLB Careers home page. To avoid cratering their recruitment opportunities, they scrubbed all mentions of “diversity” from their sites. We take this action after U.S. President Donald Trump’s disastrous and discriminatory executive order, which set the stage for this decision. The second would invite federal investigations and federal reprisals against states or organizations employing DEI programs. The elimination of these references to equity and inclusion represents a huge departure on the city’s careers page, as first reported by the website cupofcoffeenews.com.
The executive order in question is linked to the Trump administration's interpretation of civil rights laws, which may affect organizations with DEI initiatives. And MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is closely monitoring the federal government’s reading of the law, all while assessing its impact. He was wise to issue such a statement after recent developments. That review was perhaps the biggest topic of discussion at a recent owners’ meeting, held last month in Palm Beach, Florida.
Even with these “diversity” references eliminated, MLB has planned that its strong recommitment to diversity is going to happen.
“Our values, particularly our values on diversity, remain unchanged, but another value that is pretty important to us is we always try to comply with what the law is,” a statement from MLB read.
MLB’s commitment to diversity is further highlighted by the introduction of its Diversity Pipeline Program back in 2016. Commissioner Manfred launched the program to increase diversity in the sport. It is meant to open doors for people of all colors, creeds and backgrounds.
Indeed, the changes made to the MLB Careers page illustrate a especially timid reaction to the executive order. MLB is taking out the explicit mentions of “diversity” to comply with federal guidelines. While doing this, it remained squarely focused on staying true to its core values. The nonprofit has since leveraged the platform to share job openings and reach diverse, qualified candidates.