Law
schools
have
been
stuck
between
a
rock
and
the
Trump
administration
when
it
comes
to
fostering
diversity,
equity,
and
inclusion
on
their
campuses.
Diversifying
classrooms
has
benefits:
broadening
the
likelihood
of
cultural
exchange
and
encouraging
opportunities
for
differing
viewpoints
that
can
challenge
students’
given
assumptions
being
chief
among
them.
It
also
didn’t
hurt
that
the
ABA
required
law
schools
to
foster
diversity
if
they
intended
to
gain
or
keep
their
accreditation.
Between
the
dueling
ABA
and
Trump
mandates,
something
had
to
give
if
law
schools
were
to
get
out
of
the
double
bind.
The
ABA
gave
out
first.
Reuters
has
coverage:
The
American
Bar
Association
will
temporarily
suspend
enforcement
of
its
diversity
and
inclusion
standard
for
law
schools.The
ABA’s
Council
of
the
Section
of
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
to
the
Bar
voted
on
Friday
to
halt
enforcement
of
its
current
standard
until
August
31
while
it
reviews
a
pending
proposed
revision
to
the
rule.
I
wouldn’t
invest
too
much
hope
in
the
“temporariness”
of
this
suspended
enforcement.
Not
sure
how
many
revisions
are
in
the
queue,
but
I’m
willing
to
bet
that
the
final
standard
for
law
schools
will
amount
to
“Hey
man,
do
whatever
it
takes
to
maintain
school
eligibility
for
government
funding”
at
best.
The
ABA
has
been
struggling
to
establish
strong
public-facing
arguments
for
diversity
since
SFFA
despite
the
brainstorming
meetings
to
rebrand
the
importance
of
diversity
—
there’s
no
chance
this
will
be
the
moment
they
decide
to
draw
a
line
in
the
sand
and
pull
a
Costco.
Schools
like
Cornell,
Vanderbilt,
and
ASS
Law
were
ahead
of
the
curve
and
modified
or
scrubbed
mentions
of
DEI
from
their
webpages.
Following
the
ABA’s
suspension,
more
schools
will
do
the
same.
American
Bar
Association
Suspends
Law
School
DEI
Rule
Enforcement
[Reuters]
Earlier:
Law
Schools
Respond
To
The
Executive
Threatening
To
Cut
Federal
Funding
Over
DEI
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.