Caltech’s Underhanded Move Sees DEI Program Saved, Promotion for Its Assistant VP

One of the peculiar things this writer has learned as a somewhat new parent is that you must be as crystal clear as possible when addressing toddlers, lest they twist your words and take the worst possible interpretation of what you just said.

I swore that President Donald Trump’s rules to shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in schools were crystal clear: dismantle these discriminatory practices or face consequences.

But the apparent toddlers at California Institute of Technology found a sneaky way to skirt the mandate, and it’s stunning just how nakedly transparent this all is. They’ve reshuffled their DEI leadership, handed out a promotion, and kept the whole operation intact.

This isn’t compliance — it’s defiance.

Caltech announced a so-called “promotion” for their top diversity official on March 31. Dr. Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux, previously the assistant vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and assessment, got a shiny new title: she is now the “associate vice president for campus climate, engagement, and success.”

Notice the sleight of hand? They scrubbed “DEI” from her title, but Malcom-Piqueux still oversees Caltech’s Center for Inclusion and Diversity, per The Washington Free Beacon. That’s the school’s central DEI hub, and it’s still standing strong. Even charitably speaking, one would describe this as a rebrand more than a dismantling.

Caltech President Thomas Rosenbaum claimed in a university-wide that Malcom-Piqueux’s new role would promote “engagement, progression, and personal and professional success.” Sounds noble, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. The DEI department wasn’t touched apart from a new coat of paint.

And that coat of paint isn’t even that convincing.

Caltech’s own strategy implementation update confirms that it “will not remain competitive in the long term without a steadfast commitment to inclusive excellence.”

That sounds an awful lot like doubling down against the current presidential administration, doesn’t it?

Trump’s crackdown targeted DEI for a reason. These programs often discriminate, favoring one group over another based on identity. It’s a festering, real-world example that racism still exists in America today. And Caltech’s move shows they don’t care.

The hypocrisy is maddening. Caltech claims to value “inclusive excellence,” but they’re just preserving a system that discriminates. Trump’s rules demanded a shutdown, not a rebrand.

It’s a mockery of Trump’s mandate, in every sense imaginable.

Malcom-Piqueux — perhaps spearheading that very mockery — can’t be brushed aside as just a pawn in this culture war, either.

She joined Caltech in 2022 as the inaugural assistant vice president for DEI, per the school’s own announcement. Her mission was to push that “inclusive excellence.” Now, she’s been elevated while the DEI structure remains untouched.

And that structure gives Malcom-Piqueux some scary influence.

As Caltech boasts, their new DEI associate vice president for campus climate, engagement, and success has “provided consultation and expertise to the National Science Foundation, NASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Physics, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, the American Educational Research Association, and JPL, among other organizations.”

That’s a lot of places of “higher learning” that are promoting this discriminatory practice.

The very spirit of DEI lives on at Caltech. It’s not dismantled; it’s thriving. Trump’s rules aimed to end this, but Caltech clearly isn’t listening.

Schools like Caltech need to wake up. Keeping DEI alive under a new guise isn’t progress.

It’s a betrayal of merit and fairness, and no amount of dressing it up will make it otherwise.

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