Campus Reform
The American Bar Association (ABA) suspended its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion requirement for law schools following President Donald Trump’s executive actions rolling back DEI.
Standard 206 requires law schools to recruit students and faculty based on DEI standards.
The American Bar Association (ABA) has suspended its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirement for law schools following President Donald Trump’s executive actions rolling back DEI.
The ABA’s Standard 206 requires law schools to “demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion” by recruiting students and faculty members based on measures of DEI.
The standard goes so far as to offer “special recruitment efforts” and financial help to applicants who would enhance a law school’s commitment to DEI.
Standard 206 also states that a law school must show “a commitment to having a student body that is diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity” and “may use race and ethnicity in its admissions process to promote diversity and inclusion.”
[RELATED: Lawsuit filed against American Bar Association over race-based internships]
The ABA also stated that recruitment of students for DEI purposes “typically includes a special concern for determining the potential of these applicants through the admission process, special recruitment efforts, and programs that assist in meeting the academic and financial needs of many of these students and that create a favorable environment for students from underrepresented groups.”
At the association’s quarterly meeting on Friday, the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to suspend the DEI-focused Standard 206 until Aug. 31. The council is reviewing the policy and developing a revision, according to ABA Journal.
“This is a victory for common sense. We are bringing meritocracy back to the legal system,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X.
The changes follow Trump’s recent executive orders to end DEI programs and restore merit-based opportunity, as well as the Department of Education’s recent warning to academic institutions to eliminate DEI policies or risk losing federal funding.
“The ABA is looking at rewording Rule 206 which basically requires law schools to hire profs and admit student based on race. Race based admissions is wrong no matter how you sugar coat and race based teaching in culture, bias, intersectionality is messed up!” Attorney Chris Corbitt wrote on X.
Campus Reform has reached out to the American Bar Association for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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