In what critics see as a quiet admission of failure, the Mayo Clinic — once a vocal champion of the left’s divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda — is now rebranding its DEI office with a more palatable, less politically loaded name: the “Office of Belonging.” The move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s January executive order aimed at dismantling institutional discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country.
The announcement, buried in a statement to the *Minnesota Star Tribune*, was presented by Andrea Kalmanovitz, Mayo’s director of media relations, as part of an ongoing effort to “accelerate Mayo Clinic’s belonging journey” and enhance its “culture of collaboration and respect.” But let’s be honest — this isn’t just a change in language. It’s a retreat.
For years, DEI programs across corporate America and elite institutions like Mayo have been used to push a hyper-politicized worldview that prioritizes identity over achievement, activism over excellence. But with Trump back in the Oval Office and federal funding on the line, even the most entrenched institutions are beginning to pivot — or at least rebrand.
And they have every reason to. In 2024 alone, Mayo Clinic raked in over **$500 million in federal and state research funding**. With President Trump’s executive order banning illegal DEI discrimination and encouraging the private sector to abandon race- and gender-based preferences, the message is clear: get back to merit, or get left behind.
Despite the new name, the Mayo Clinic’s “Office of Belonging” is still trying to cling to the same old talking points. Its website parrots the familiar DEI script — celebrating “diverse experiences,” promoting “psychological safety,” and promising that all staff can bring their “authentic best selves” to work. But this repackaged language is unlikely to fool anyone who’s been paying attention.
In fact, buried in the feel-good rhetoric is a telling line: “this work is neither centralized nor hierarchical.” Translation? There’s no real structure, no real accountability, and no real purpose — just more of the same bureaucratic fog that’s plagued so many once-great institutions under the DEI regime.
Let’s be clear: Americans want hospitals that deliver excellent care, not lectures on gender identity. They want scientists driven by curiosity and expertise, not political checklists. The Trump administration’s move to root out divisive and discriminatory DEI policies is long overdue, and the Mayo Clinic’s quiet rebranding is a sign that the tide is finally turning.
Of course, the left will frame this as progress — a new “journey” toward “belonging.” But the rest of us know what it really is: a strategic backpedal to protect funding and reputation in a country that’s waking up to the damage DEI has done.
If the Mayo Clinic truly wants to be a leader again, it should stop pandering and start prioritizing what made it great in the first place — merit, medicine, and excellence without apology.
