#WorkforceWednesday: The Ripple Effect of the Supreme Court’s SFFA Ruling for Diversity in the Workplace - Employment Law This Week®
Business Better Podcast Episode: Is DEI at Risk? Considerations on the US Supreme Court Ruling Against Affirmative Action Programs
On May 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Dear Colleague Letter on Nondiscrimination Requirements for Medical Schools on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin pursuant to Students...more
Anti-discrimination statutes protect against "deliberate indifference" to conditions establishing a hostile environment of antisemitic violence and harassment. But those statutes cannot be used to censor legitimate speech...more
A federal civil rights agency just announced that it will be investigating more than 50 higher ed institutions to determine whether they violated federal law by making race-based decisions in their graduate and scholarship...more
The US Department of Education (ED) recently announced two separate groups of enforcement investigations to assess university compliance with civil rights obligations. The first, announced on March 10, includes 60 colleges...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (the “Department”) announced that it has initiated two sets of investigations against dozens of universities for alleged violations of Title VI....more
Following its February 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague Letter,”outlining DEI programs that could result in a loss of federal funding by February 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (the “Department”)...more
On Friday, February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter advising federally funded schools that it considers any decisions or benefits based on race,...more
Starting today, the U.S. Department of Education will crack down on “overt and covert racial discrimination” in educational institutions receiving federal funding, according to a February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter issued by...more
On February 14, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (DOE) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), which calls for educational institutions to immediately cease race-conscious practices in student...more
On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) concerning discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in K-12 and higher education. The DCL articulates the...more
On February 14, 2025, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter about legal obligations for educational institutions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the...more
In a tersely worded “Dear Colleague” letter dated February 14, 2025 (pdf), the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) signaled its intent to combat “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and...more
As McGuireWoods shared on Jan. 22, 2025, the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (EO) takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at institutions of higher...more
What is OCR saying these days about Title VI, and how are the courts approaching Title VI litigation? Join Bricker Graydon Higher Education attorneys for a free webinar on the latest updates in Title VI litigation and OCR...more
On July 30, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was not deliberately indifferent to antisemitism on its campus, and provided some guidance as to how courts may interpret...more
In recent months, OCR has reached resolution agreements with a school district and two universities after investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment based on ancestry or ethnicity, including allegations...more
Case resolutions released by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) in the past two weeks may be signaling a change in how OCR expects institutions of higher education to comply with Title VI’s mandate...more
The Department of Education recently reminded educational institutions receiving federal funding of their responsibility to foster inclusive campuses in light of the nationwide rise in hate crimes and threats to Jewish,...more
Seeing the barrage of lawsuits following the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the use of race in admissions in higher education has left many in K-12 independent and private schools scratching their...more
Colleges and universities can still take steps to foster diverse and inclusive campuses — even after the Supreme Court’s decision severely limiting race-conscious admissions in education, according to the latest guidance from...more
On July 24, 2023, less than a month after the Supreme Court's landmark decision striking down affirmative action practices in college admissions, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has launched an...more
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action will spur more challenges to educational institutions’ policies beyond admissions. Our Education Team discusses race conscious admissions prior to the Court’s...more
On June 29, 2023, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the Supreme Court drastically altered college admissions by ruling that affirmative action admissions practices violated the Equal Protection Clause of the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the cases Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina upended prior...more
Supreme Court Blocks Use of Race in Harvard, UNC Admissions in Blow to Diversity Efforts - "In one of its most closely watched cases this year, the court ruled along ideological lines that the way the schools approached race...more