Georgetown Law School is pushing back against a hiring threat from interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, who warned he would not consider applicants from institutions that continue to teach diversity, equity, and inclusion, The Hill reported.
Georgetown Law School Dean William Treanor is defending the institution's curriculum after Washington, D.C.'s federal prosecutor said he would not hire students from law schools that maintain DEI-related programs.
Martin sent a letter to the law school last month, asking if it had removed all DEI connections, a focal point of the Trump administration's higher education policies. He warned that any applicant "who is a student or affiliated with a law school or university that continues to teach and utilize DEI will be considered" ineligible for positions in his office, The Washington Post reported.
Treanor responded Thursday, stating that while the law school complies with anti-discrimination laws, Martin's attempt to influence curricula crosses constitutional boundaries.
"The First Amendment, however, guarantees that the government cannot direct what Georgetown and its faculty teach and how to teach it," Treanor wrote.
He called Martin's position a "constitutional violation," arguing that disqualifying students from employment unless their school meets specific curricular demands is unlawful.
"We look forward to your confirming that any Georgetown-affiliated candidates for employment with your office will receive full and fair consideration," Treanor concluded in his letter.
The dispute comes amid a broader conservative push against DEI programs in higher education.
Republican lawmakers have intensified efforts to dismantle racial preference policies in college admissions and hiring following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2023 decision declaring race-conscious admissions unconstitutional. The ruling stemmed from lawsuits representing Asian American students who claimed they were denied admission to Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in favor of less-qualified applicants from other racial groups.
Since then, many states have moved to eliminate or defund DEI initiatives at public colleges.
U.S. News & World Report reported that such policies have become a major nationwide focus in higher education legislation.
President Donald Trump has acted swiftly to roll back DEI initiatives at the federal level. In the first weeks of his second term, he signed executive orders ending federal DEI programs.
On Feb. 14, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued a "Dear Colleague" letter, giving preschools, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions two weeks to eliminate race-based programs or risk losing federal funding. The directive cited the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling as justification.
The crackdown on DEI programs has resulted in a wave of legislative proposals. As of last month, lawmakers in 29 states have introduced 119 bills to curtail DEI initiatives at public colleges, according to Chronicle of Higher Education data.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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