From the Daily Pennsylvanian: The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will shut down its Office of Equal Opportunity and Engagement at the end of the summer, according to a Thursday email from Dean Sophia Lee. The closure is the latest in a series of moves contributing to a widespread rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the University. According to Lee — who wrote to the law school community on Aug. 7 — the office will close “as its ongoing work is integrated into broader, school-wide initiatives.”
...The office’s website is no longer accessible. According to an archived version of the website accessed by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the office previously offered several DEI-related services, including anti-bias programs and an Anti-Bias Support & Reporting Toolkit. Lee wrote that the resources listed in the toolkit "remain available, though the website for the toolkit has been taken down."
...A spokesperson for Penn Carey Law wrote to the DP that the school's "commitment to ensuring access and opportunity for all remains unwavering" remains, despite the office's closure...
Full story at https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/08/penn-carey-law-equal-opportunity-office.
From Inside Higher Ed: Ruling in part that professors lack First Amendment protections in the classroom, a federal judge denied an effort from college faculty and students in Alabama to block a 2024 state law that banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as the teaching of so-called divisive concepts. The plaintiffs, who include students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and professors at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, argued in court filings and at hearings that the legislation known as Senate Bill 129 amounted to state-sponsored censorship and infringed on their rights under the First and 14th Amendments. The professors alleged that they had to cancel class projects or events and faced other questions about their classroom conduct from administrators because of the law. They've also changed course material as a result.
R. David Proctor, chief judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, found that while the professors and the Alabama NAACP had standing to sue, they weren’t likely to succeed at this time. For instance, he ruled that the professors aren’t protected by the First Amendment because their “in-class instruction constitutes government speech.” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/08/15/judge-keeps-alabamas-anti-dei-law-place-now.
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