American Bar Association Drops Law School Diversity Rule in 10-6 Vote Under Trump Pressure
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
American Bar Association Drops Law School Diversity Rule in 10-6 Vote Under Trump Pressure
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 8
Summary
The ABA’s accreditation council voted 10-6 on Tuesday to eliminate, effective immediately, the law-school standard requiring “concrete action” on diversity and inclusion.
Nearly 200 J.D. programs were affected because the group said keeping the rule could endanger its status as a federally recognized accreditor after Trump administration pressure.
The requirement, first adopted in 1980 and last updated in 2014, had already been suspended in February 2025 after Trump targeted higher-education accreditors and cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 admissions ruling.
Education Department letters to other accreditors and ABA committee warnings in May reinforced the risk, though critics said the rule was still lawful and accused Trump of bullying the legal profession.
The decision shows how the administration is using accreditation oversight to push colleges and professional schools to dismantle DEI standards more broadly.