Google CEO Sundar Pichai will meet with five presidents of historically Black colleges and universities next week after two former Google employees accused the company of racial discrimination, CNN Business reported.
Last month, two Black former Google employees — April Curley, a diversity recruiter, and Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher — tweeted that they were fired from the tech giant after voicing concerns about how few Black people worked at Google and how those employees were treated. Curley oversaw HBCU recruitment and said several of her superiors believed HBCU computer science graduates didn’t have the technical skills to work for Google.
HBCU leaders were troubled by these allegations.
“We were not willing to stand by on this issue and let it go,” Larry Robinson, president of Florida A&M University, told CNN Business. “When our students have the opportunity to go into the world of work and the world of work has an opportunity to work with our talented students, it’s important they are provided an environment that is appreciative and respects who they are.”
Robinson will be at the meeting with Pichai next week, along with presidents from Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University and Morgan State University.