ABA’s Diversity Requirement Suspension Not Enough For Pam Bondi

The ABA’s attempt at redefining the significance of diversity post SFFA v. Harvard and the Trump administration has been a slow process of ceding to the right. A nothingburger redefining of diversity that lacked teeth and a “we won’t really act on it” approach to their diversity requirement for accreditation later, and now Pam Bondi is hastening up the cremation process. Reuters has coverage:

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called for the American Bar Association to immediately repeal its law school diversity rule and scrap a planned revision of that standard in a letter to the ABA posted to a social media site on Wednesday by a U.S. Justice Department official.

Bondi’s letter, posted on social media site X, also warned that the ABA’s authority as the government-sanctioned accreditor of U.S. law schools—a position it has held since 1952—can be revoked.

My money is on this being enough for the ABA to give up the pretense of still thinking about diversity and dropping the requirement. That said, it would be nice to see who the Trump administration would vest with accreditation authority should the ABA hold to its diversity guns. They’ve already tapped the WWE for their education expertise, maybe they’ll move on to some other conservative platform — Joe Rogan, perhaps? You might not even have to bother with law school with him in charge; just go on the podcast and hobnob about how great of a writer Scalia was and you’ll be greenlit to practice if the episode ratings are high enough! If Big Balls can get a coveted position in government with little to no real work experience, why can’t you go transactional after sharing some SCOTUS trivia on radio?

Playing the long game, the consequences of getting DEI out of law school will ruffle a few feathers. As much as the media likes to spin Dontravious and Jamal as proof that law schools are full of DEI, the actual culprits are Donna and Jessica. Just look at the numbers; it’s hard to talk about law school diversity without mentioning that women made up ~56% of the entering student body in 2024, which trends with them being the majority for the last few years now. The initial lawsuit phases will target law schools for having too many Black students, but the suits alleging sex discrimination for admitting too many women will be soon to follow.

See you in a couple of days when the ABA finally caves in.

US Attorney General Presses ABA To Drop Law School DEI Rule Or Risk Losing Accreditor Status [Reuters]

Earlier: ABA Committee Decides To Diversify Diversity. It Should Come With A Clear Reason For Why That’s Important.

Conservatives Call The Manager On The ABA’s Diversity Programs

ABA Suspends DEI Accreditation Requirements For Law Schools

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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.