Senator Andy Kim Defends DEI Initiatives at Cherry Hill Town Hall
Article and Photos by Jewel Justice
Senator Andy Kim held a town hall on April 22, 2025 at Cherry Hill East High School, addressing an auditorium of over 300 attendees on a range of issues facing the state and the nation.
During the question-and-answer session, audience members asked about a number of topics, including Israel and Palestine, Medicaid and DEI.
DEI continues to be a prominent topic in media and public discourse since Trump’s policies that reversed DEI programs across the country.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has pushed back against these policies. During his February budget address, criticized the anti-DEI agenda at the federal level and stated that his administration will defend all citizens, including women, LGTBQ+ people and immigrant families. Also, New Jersey is among the group of 19 states that rejected Trump’s directive aimed at cutting DEI programs in public schools.
During a press conference after the town hall, Sen. Kim commended New Jersey for resisting the Trump administration’s anti-DEI efforts.
“We see this fundamental attack from the federal level when it comes to DEI at schools, at businesses, in our military and government service,” Kim said. “I’m glad to see New Jersey stand up in different ways, to be able to say that we’re not going to capitulate to the Trump administration.”
One of the town hall attendees asked Sen. Kim how he would address the LGBTQ+ community, as DEI rollbacks have put certain communities more at risk.
“As a trans person, as a representative of the LGBTQ community, what’s your message to us as we fear for our very existence right now?” the attendee asked.
Sen. Kim stated that the country at large is blatantly violent toward LGBTQ+ people and people within other marginalized communities. In response to the attendee, he said that he will persist in advocating for LGBTQ+ people in policy.
“The willingness that people have to just be able to do harm to others within our global society [is] scary,” Kim said. “It is important that we recognize the importance of this on so many different fronts. I will continue to push for the Equality Act and other things that would codify LGBTQ rights as civil rights in this country.”
Sen. Kim said that, in order to reach people in Republican areas throughout New Jersey, he has mobilized around three focus points in combating the Trump administration’s efforts: saving Medicaid, stopping the tariffs, and exposing the corruption. He stated that many people who have supported Trump can connect with this threefold mission.
“Those three issues have shown tremendous resonance in cutting through and connecting in with people, especially people that don’t live and breathe politics every single day,” Kim said.
Kim stated that it is crucial that New Jersey residents actively engage in state politics, and he expressed that the upcoming election is crucial because it can influence politics at the national level.
“I always want to see more people engaged … Because we here in New Jersey have an ability to have resonance with one of only two governor’s races in the country this year. That is a powerful responsibility,” Kim said. “Forty eight other states don’t have that ability to be able to have a wide race of that magnitude in an election. So I really hope people in New Jersey see the unique opportunity we have, and that they seize it.”
Phil Murphy, who has spoken out against federal anti-DEi efforts, was the first Democratic Governor to serve a second term since 1977. When re-elected in 2021, however, Murphy won by a significantly narrower margin than in his 2017 victory. Combined with the 2025 poll showing a high number of undecided Republican and Democratic voters, this makes the outcome of the upcoming New Jersey primaries unpredictable.
Along with stating that the upcoming New Jersey primary election is pivotal, Sen. Kim emphasized the key role that diversity and initiatives backing it play.
“I get very upset about how the Trump administration is framing this, as if diversity and meritocracy are mutually exclusive, as if they can’t exist together. I think that that just is so insulting, as someone who’s a Korean American senator. I didn’t get into the Senate because I’m Korean American,” Kim said. “So much of our strength as a country comes from people being able to push themselves [despite societal constraints] … I think it’s important for us to say ‘this is why diversity matters.’”
Written by :
Jewel Justice
Date Posted :
May 6, 2025