Ohio law schools could abandon DEI requirements after American Bar Association vote

Law schools in Ohio could abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements if the American Bar Association eventually repeals its DEI accreditation rule.

The Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted on May 15 to repeal a law school accreditation Standard 206, according to ABA Journal.

The standard requires American universities with law schools to comply with the DEI requirement by committing to DEI in recruitment, admissions, and student programs, and to ensure that the law schools conduct “special recruitment efforts” and financially support initiatives that advance DEI.

The ABA’s House of Delegates will review the vote by the council in August, according to Reuters. It is possible that the DEI rule could be eliminated completely only in 2027.

David Brennen, an ABA council member and the former dean of the University of Kentucky College of Law, praised the decision, adding that he personally supports the DEI initiatives and rules, according to the news source.

“Even though I personally agree with [the diversity and inclusion standard] and what it tries to achieve, I think it’s appropriate as an accrediting body that we eliminate that standard so we don’t inhibit the diversity of ideas out there in various types of legal education environments,” he said.

Campus Reform previously reported that the ABA suspended its DEI requirement in February after President Donald Trump restricted left-wing initiatives in federal agencies, public colleges and universities, and private higher education institutions that receive federal funds.

“The Council’s actions today represent part of a comprehensive effort to streamline and simplify the minimum requirements for law schools consistent with its Core Principles and Values,” Daniel Thies, chair of the Accreditation Council, said, adding that the repeal of the standard by the council reflects its commitment to ensure that law schools all around the country would be in compliance with the federal law, according to The Hill.

Reuters reported that to deal with the decades-long DEI initiatives, Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 to assess whether the organization should be suspended as the government’s official law school accreditor, saying that one of the reasons why that could potentially happen is because the ABA allegedly has been pushing the DEI initiatives on American law schools for many decades.

The news source reported that Texas, Florida, and Alabama eliminated the ABA from their lawyer licensing processes after learning about Trump’s executive order.

An undercover video purported to show Bowling Green State University forcing its law students to adopt DEI initiatives to graduate, with the university’s Department of Human Services Chair and Professor Adam Watkins admitting to an undercover journalist that a student’s education “would not be hindered by right-wing political interests.”