Trump’s Department of Education gives schools 2 weeks to ditch DEI…or else

Public schools and universities in Massachusetts and across the U.S. have less than two weeks to scrub their curriculums and outside contracts of any diversity, equity and inclusion policies or risk losing access to federal funds.

According to a “Dear Colleagues” letter sent by the Department of Education’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor and delivered to the leading education officials in each the 50 states, the federal government will now will interpret regulations to mean that any policy, “motivated by racial considerations” is at odds with the law.

“The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent. All students are entitled to a school environment free from discrimination. The Department is committed to ensuring those principles are a reality,” the letter reads.

The Trump administration’s missive indicates the law will be interpreted in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which saw the end of affirmative action, and reflects the belief that DEI policies violate “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, and other relevant authorities.”

—Boston Herald

What we know about the group behind the ‘Not My Presidents Day’ protests

A grassroots group formed mostly on Reddit says it organized protests in all 50 states on Monday, in defiance of the Presidents’ Day holiday.

The rallies and demonstrations, which vary by region, are a response to actions taken by President Donald Trump and his administration. Some have been nicknamed “Not My Presidents Day” rallies — similar to the protests that occurred during Trump’s first term in 2017. Others have called the rallies “No Kings on Presidents Day” and the “America Has No King” demonstration.

Critics have called the Trump administration’s policy work so far — particularly its focus on targeting immigrants, DEI initiatives, women’s bodily autonomy, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — “anti-democratic and illegal.”

The protests also come on the heels of sweeping actions led by billionaire Elon Musk who oversees Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency.” Several protests are taking place in Pennsylvania, including in Philadelphia.

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Columbine High School shooting survivor dies decades after tragedy. Her tenacious spirit is remembered

While Columbine High School shooting survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter’s life was shaped by tragedy, the tenacious woman worked hard to ensure tragedy did not define her.

Hochhalter was 17 when her life shifted from teen clarinet player to among the most injured survivors of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. The high school junior was paralyzed after being shot in the back. She spent the rest of her days in a wheelchair with medical complications.

Six months after the shooting, her mother, Carla Hochhalter, walked into an Englewood pawnshop, asked to see a revolver and fatally shot herself.

Amid the media frenzy, medical care and grief, Anne Marie Hochhalter was determined to live life on her own terms. She went on to find her new normal, living independently in a handicap-accessible home with dogs to love and friends to cherish. Anne Marie Hochhalter, 43, was found dead in her Westminster home Sunday.

—The Denver Post

Pope gets new diagnosis and will remain in hospital for longer

ROME — Pope Francis will probably have to stay in hospital longer according to a new diagnosis released by the Vatican on Monday.

The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church suffers from a "polymicrobial respiratory infection," which has required his health care providers to change his treatment.

Polymicrobial infections are caused by combinations of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites according to the science journal The Lancet. Such infections in the respiratory tract are difficult to treat. "All tests carried out to date are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require appropriate hospitalization," the Vatican said in a statement posted on its Vatican News website.

The head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has been hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital in the west of Rome since Friday and was, according to the Vatican at the time, suffering from bronchitis.

—dpa