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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Texas A&M University System abandons diversity, equity, and inclusion credentials for admissions and hiring. What's behind the move back to a merit-based system? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's March 11th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire. A Minneapolis judge has ruled in favor of a transgender weightlifter in their suit against USA powerlifting. We break down the case and the reaction to it. And Americans are fed up with being asked to leave a tip at checkout. I think tipping at every turn is definitely out of control. From your Uber driver to your barista, have digital payments brought us to a tipping point? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Subscribe and get a complimentary bonus box. Visit genucell.com slash wire and use code wire at checkout to claim this special offer. That's genucell.com slash wire.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Following orders from Governor Greg Abbott, Texas A&M University's system is no longer using DEI statements for either hiring or admissions decisions. The schools have been instructed to consider merit alone from now on. Proponents of considering DEI statements in admissions say this helps foster a more inclusive environment on campus, whereas critics say the practice functions as an ideological litmus test in hiring. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham joins us now to discuss the order and how dropping the DEI statements may impact schools.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, first off, what does this DEI statement process look like in practice? So these are statements or essays that applicants are supposed to submit showcasing their commitment and goals around diversity, equity, and inclusion, basically to demonstrate how they would be an asset to those goals on campus.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): For example, here's a quote from a pretty standard prompt use by University of California, San Diego. Describe your past efforts as well as future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. Please note that a demonstrated record of past effort is given greater weight than articulating awareness of barriers or stating future plans. And now Governor Abbott has banned that. Why? Well, Abbott's office claims that DEI practices haven't actually done what they're supposed to do. They haven't created a more diverse student body and faculty, and they haven't made campuses more welcoming to students of color.
--:-- Megan Basham: Texas A&M's system has no more black faculty than it had 10 years ago. And the number of black graduates actually fell. There also no evidence that DEI efforts are showing a positive impact in campus culture either. In fact, students have become more alienated in the last decade. A&M started pushing DEI policies more heavily in 2015 to create that welcoming culture to students of all races, but since then, the number who say they feel like they belong at the school has actually gone down in every ethnic group. White students' sense of belonging dropped 10 points between 2015 and 2020, and Hispanic students went from 88% to 76%. But when you look at Black students, they actually experienced the greatest decline. They dropped 27 points from 82% to 55%.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So now that DEI statements have been stripped, faculty and staff applications will be standardized, and they won't take race into account in admissions either. And this actually follows the University of Texas also stripping its DEI statements last week. So universities won't be able to formally request DEI statements, but it's not like these administrators have stopped caring about that. Are there workarounds they're going to use to kind of get this information?
--:-- Megan Basham: Right. It's the end of openly using DEI statements, certainly, but probably not the end of the practice. So Boise State political science professor Scott Yenner authored an investigative report for the Claremont Institute that really drew attention to how DEI ideology had transformed Texas A&M. And he says there are some pretty easy ways around the governor's new orders. A person who's in charge of DEI at Texas A&M College Station said it's not that big of a deal if they ban the DEI statements. Because all we have to do is look for diversity, equity, inclusion and the rest of their application to decide if we're going to hire them.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): And that really announced that that apparatus had ways of getting around diversity statements being banned to find other ways of doing the same thing. He also points out that the administrators responsible for bringing in DEI haven't gone anywhere. So he thinks that people who run these offices would probably need to be fired to really root it out.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, I also think one of the main criticisms you hear is that this falls afoul of academic freedom. Yeah, and that has been a big part of the pushback that we saw, for example, in Florida when it started taking some similar actions. Jenner told me he believes this stripping of DEI reflects the will of the people. These are public universities, and this is true of private universities, too. There's lots of public money on those universities. And having those universities completely out of step with the desires of their taxpayers is not right in a Republican government.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So it seems to me what Texas is doing, what Florida is doing when it comes to banning the DEI offices is trying to get the universities to genuinely reflect the ideas of meritocratic accomplishment and Republican government that the population itself values. And I think one thing most political analysts are noting here is that this is part of a trend toward what you might call a more muscular brand of conservatism that is a little more comfortable with using executive power to undo the cultural gains that they think the left has made. And that's been said both as praise and as criticism.
--:-- Megan Basham: Right. And that was a trend that we saw in some of the CPAC speeches over the weekend. Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Anytime. That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Coming up a court orders USA powerlifting to let males who identify as women compete in the women competitions Do you love Morning Wire? Well, you can shop the collection at dailywire slash shop Start today with your favorite podcast and coffee from your very own Morning Wire mug. Or read the news you need to know with Morning Wire t-shirts, hoodies, and tote bags. That's dailywire.com slash shop.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): In a highly controversial discrimination case, a Minnesota court has ruled against USA powerlifting, saying the National Weightlifting Organization must allow males who identify as women to compete in the women's division. Joining us to discuss is sports writer and Crane & Company co-host David Cohn.
--:-- David Cohn: Hey, Georgia. So tell us about this ruling. Absolutely. So this week, J.C. Cooper, a male who now identifies as a woman, won a discrimination case against USA powerlifting after the Federation banned him from competing in female events. This all started in 2019 when Cooper filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, alleging the organization violated the state's Human Rights Act by banning Cooper and other trans athletes from competing in female competitions.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Then in 2021, Cooper filed a lawsuit against USA powerlifting in state court. Cooper said at the time, quote, I was fed up with the way I was being treated. I was fed up with the way my community was being treated, and enough was enough. And the court sided with Cooper then?
--:-- David Cohn: Correct. It was said that the weightlifting organization's policy violated state's anti-discrimination law, which means the Federation must cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices because of sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization must now revise its policy related to those issues within two weeks, which will allow athletes to compete in categories based on their gender identity rather than biological sex.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Following the court ruling, Cooper stated, I feel mostly relief. I think we needed a win here and it feels good to get that, unquote. And do we have a response yet from USA Powerlifting?
--:-- David Cohn: We do. They've signaled that they are going to fight this. The organization's President Larry Maley slammed the court's decision, pointing out that males have a distinct advantage when it comes to the sport of powerlifting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Here's part of his statement, quoting, our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis and transgender women whose capacities differ significantly in pure strength sports. We have received a summary judgment decision from the court finding us liable for discrimination. We respectfully disagree with the court's conclusions. We are considering all of our options, including appeal.
--:-- David Cohn: Well, this is obviously a very hot-button issue. How does the public feel about this issue in particular? Do we have any polls on how people feel about men competing in women's sports?
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yes, we do have some pretty up-to-date information on that front. A recent poll conducted by Summit.org found that 77% of voters with an opinion on the issue believe that the changes recently made to Title IX, allowing males who identify as females to compete in women's sports have been harmful to women's sports, while 23 percent of voters thought these changes have been helpful.
--:-- David Cohn: Well, we will see what USA Powerlifting does next. David, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was sports writer and Crane & Company co-host David Cohn.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Americans are starting to get frustrated with constantly being prompted to leave a tip especially in the present economy when inflation and prices are still high. Here to give us the details is Daily Wire Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So Charlotte, it feels like every time you buy anything lately, you're asked to leave a tip. And now it sounds like we have some data on how people really feel about it.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yes, there have been reports that a lot of people think there's way too much tipping going on. In the past, there would often be a tip jar at places like coffee shops and ice cream shops. But now with the payment on iPads, the screen always pops up asking you to leave a tip. And a lot of people find it irritating.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Here's Thomas Farley, an expert on etiquette on this topic. So we know about a guilt trip. This is the guilt tip, where because you know you've got to flip that screen around ultimately and the person waiting on you is going to see how much you tipped, not to mention the three people standing in line behind you are going to see what you tipped.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): This is all coming to a head with the economy too. Inflation was at 6.5% in December, which is still really being felt for a lot of Americans when they go to checkout.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Here's Farley again on this. We're living in an era of inflation, but on top of that, we've got tipping everywhere, tipflation. I take it a step further and call it a tipping invasion because that's really what I think it is.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Some experts who actually study the act of tipping say that a lot of customers are annoyed when they're asked to tip at cafes and similar places, in part because the workers are earning minimum wage or more. One customer had this to say.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: They're just getting paid hourly and they're just behind the counter handing you something, just doing their job. I don't really think it deserves much more of what they're already getting paid for.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So it's different from tipping your waiter, for example. For people who don't know, waiters typically earn less than minimum wage, but they get the majority of their pay from tips.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And this could actually end up backfiring on workers who really need the gratuities because they don't make enough to earn a living just on their hourly pay. Suddenly, every service professional in our life is being tipped. The people who traditionally do tip and require those tips, they're going to be getting a smaller piece of the pie.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Now, how has this new trend affected how much people are actually tipping? Well, Square, a payment company, has said that tipping has gone up. Gratuities at full-service restaurants went up around 25% in the third quarter of last year. Quick-service food stops saw tipping rise 16.7% compared to the same time period the year before. And they say there was a steady increase for the same time span since 2019.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So it sounds like we really are tipping more than we used to.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Another story we're tracking this week. Republicans walked out of a Senate hearing about artificial intelligence on Wednesday after their Democratic counterparts blocked Daily Wire Plus host Dr. Jordan B. Peterson from testifying. Republican members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee had invited the clinical psychologist and best-selling author to provide his insights about the rise of AI and related threats to liberty.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. And if you're a Morning Wire super fan and you want to represent our show, you can shop our merch selection at dailywire.com slash shop. We have a pretty elite Morning Wire mug. We have t-shirts, we have tote bags. Pretty soon we're restocking our hoodies, and you can find all of that at dailywire.com slash shop. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with a Saturday extra edition of Morning Wire. Bye.
