Scientists alarmed as Rubin Observatory changes biography of astronomer Vera Rubin amid Trump's push to end DEI efforts
By Sharmila Kuthunur
Astronomers are expressing disappointment and alarm as the federally-funded Rubin Observatory altered the biography of renowned astronomer Vera Rubin, for whom the facility is named, on its website. The amended version curtails her legacy of championing women in science and removes all mentions of the observatory's efforts to reduce barriers for women and other historically underrepresented groups in the field.
"No executive order, no political edict is going to undermine or end our efforts to make the scientific workforce look more like our people," astronomer John Barentine told Space.com. "If anything, it is giving us more encouragement to continue to do this work, because it is the morally, philosophically and politically right thing to do." The edits, first reported by ProPublica on Jan. 30, came as federal agencies across the government scramble to revamp their websites in order to comply with a U.S. executive order issued by President Donald Trump, which ends funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and removes all mentions of them from public-facing websites.
On Jan. 27, a portion of Rubin's bio titled "She advocated for women in science" was removed entirely before being republished later that day in a diluted form, ProPublica reported. As of publication of this story Tuesday (Feb. 11), the altered bio still excludes a paragraph that originally read: "Science is still a male-dominated field, but Rubin Observatory is working to increase participation from women and other people who have historically been excluded from science. Rubin Observatory welcomes everyone who wants to contribute to science, and takes steps to lower or eliminate barriers that exclude those with less privilege." One sentence in the final paragraph, which originally read, "Vera Rubin offers an excellent example of what can happen when more minds participate in science," was changed to replace "more" with "many," altering the meaning from emphasizing the need for diverse perspectives to simply highlighting a high number of people.
"This is the story of what happened in her life," Yvette Cendes, a radio astronomer at the University of Oregon, told Space.com. "She was a huge champion for women in science in particular because she faced things that were discriminatory for women — diminishing those stories is pretty disturbing, frankly." Other pages on the observatory's website, including the jobs and staff bio pages, have also been modified to erase mentions of diversity and inclusion efforts. The Observatory, its funder, the National Science Foundation, and the White House did not respond to Space.com's request for comment on Feb. 3.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/earth/scientists-alarmed-as-rubin-observatory-changes-biography-of-astronomer-vera-rubin-amid-trumps-push-to-end-dei-efforts