While Vice President JD Vance rips through DEI initiatives across the nation, his mother-in-law, Lakshmi Chilukuri, is a proud pioneer of diversity, equity, and inclusion at her own job.
The provost of the University of California San Diego’s Sixth College and a teaching professor in its Department of Microbiology, CBS News reports that Chilukuri’s seasoned career in the university has seen her help create a pilot course on race, ethnicity, and gender in biology and medicine and serve on the university’s biological sciences diversity committee.
In a 2018 announcement appointing Chilukuri as provost, UC San Diego (UCSD) Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla described the vice president’s mother-in-law as a “creative and dynamic educator” who has a “demonstrated record of commitment to undergraduate education, equity, and diversity.
J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Vance stand on stage on the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. / PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
“She is one of the founding members of the pilot course in Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Biology and Medicine, exploring the practice and philosophy of science from a multicultural perspective, the historical use and misuse of science in biomedical research and social policies, and issues of race and medicine in a post-genomic age,” the announcement continued. “She is a member of the Division of Biological Sciences Diversity Committee and served as a Marshall Mentor for three years (2008- 2010).”
According to CBS, an additional 2019 article on the university’s website details that the pilot course, BILD 60: Exploring Issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Relation to Human Biology, was developed because Chilukuri and her fellow members of the school’s diversity committee “recognized the need for a course that looked at DEI issues through a scientific lens.”
In a provost welcome letter published to UCSD’s Sixth College “About” page, Chilukuri also digs deep on the importance of DEI in her own words, beckoning students to “be part of the conversation and part of the solution.”
Lakshmi Chilukuri, the provost of the University of California San Diego’s Sixth College, and Vice President JD Vance’s mother-in-law. / UC San Diego Annual Giving/Youtube
“The last few years have taught us some valuable lessons about ourselves. Most importantly, it has reinforced what we already knew, that we are capable of withstanding anything when we work with each other and FOR each other. It has highlighted the importance of compassion, understanding, and a steadfast adherence to principles that drive equity, inclusion, and an embrace of diversity,” Chilukuri writes in the undated letter.
“As we come into the new academic year with the pandemic not quite yet in the rearview mirror, with issues of equity and systemic racism, anti-Blackness and anti-Asian racism yet unresolved, we have before us both opportunity and responsibility,” she continues.
“How we embrace both will greatly influence who we are as a college and a community. Whether through our African Black Diaspora Living Learning Community, our Multi-Cultural Living Learning Community, programming through our Student Affairs, Residence Life, Academic Advising, Student Council, Student Organizations, or our Culture Art and Technology core academic program, I invite each of you to be part of the conversation and part of the solution.”
Donald Trump (L) and J.D. Vance appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
In a statement to the Daily Beast, Vance said, “I don’t like DEI, and I’m proud of what our administration has done on that front,” referring to the sweeping efforts by the Trump administration to end DEI across federal agencies.
“But I love my mother-in-law,” the vice president continued. “If she doesn’t share my views on DEI I suppose I’ll have to do what 99 percent of Americans do when confronted with a family member who doesn’t always agree with them: get over it.”
“I’ll choose instead to focus on her kindness and the fact that she’s an incredible mother and loving grandmother to the most important people in my life,” he continued. “This story exists because CBS has decided that harassing my mother in law is a reasonable price in order to attack President Trump.”
Chilukuri did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The vice president married Chilukuri’s daughter Usha in 2014. The couple have welcomed three children together, and Vance has previously praised his in-laws for being great grandparents.