'Antiracist Critical Pedagogy': Penn State Law School's New Strategic Plan, Devoted to 'Antiracism,' Raises Legal Questions

In an internal planning document distributed to faculty last month, Pennsylvania's flagship law school promised to devote the entire institution to "antiracism," from recruitment and hiring decisions to research and classroom instruction. Penn State Dickinson Law said it would "recruit, retain, teach and research according to antiracist principles" and embrace an "antiracist critical pedagogy," according to a copy of the document obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The document, a "Strategic Plan Update" covering the next five years, also pledges to expand "employment opportunities for candidates who are underrepresented in the University and at the Law School." It does not appear anywhere on the website for the law school, whose dean, Danielle Conway, became the president of the American Association of Law Schools this year.

Critics said the plan's emphasis on race is likely to expose the school to legal action. "Every known definition of 'antiracism' explains that race will be a factor in decision making. This is illegal and should be challenged in court," said Ed Blum, the civil rights activist and president of Students for Fair Admissions, the organization behind the litigation that brought down affirmative action in college admissions. "Moreover, the pledge to 'expand employment opportunities for candidates who are underrepresented' suggests race and ethnicity will be factors in hiring. This is most likely actionable in a court of law."

The strategic plan, which reads like something written at the height of the George Floyd protests, illustrates the persistence of left-wing identity politics at a university stewarded by Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro (D.), who appoints 9 of the 36 voting members on the board of trustees and who has pushed back on some of the ideological excesses of academia, including at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Institutional antiracism is the work of acknowledgment, knowledge acquisition and iterative historicity, and constant action to promote systemic equity," the document reads. "Institutional Antiracism requires acknowledgment of the full history in which race and racism, oppression, and subordination shape and are shaped by law and legal architecture."

The document could also generate legal risk by pledging, in writing, to prioritize the recruitment of "underrepresented" groups, a term the Justice Department singled out in a 2025 guidance document on "unlawful discrimination."

"The references seem to suggest a fixation on race and sex that should set off warning bells at the DOJ and the US Department of Education," said Dan Morenoff, the executive director of the American Civil Rights Project. "So should the plan's assertion that 'law schools must recruit, retain, teach and research according to antiracist principles for the benefit of students, staff, faculty, and administrators as well as for the benefit of society.' That sounds like a commitment to embed demographic discrimination across the school's operations in ways that would be both unconstitutional and illegal."

Spokesmen for Penn State and Shapiro did not respond to requests for comment.

Many schools have dialed back their DEI rhetoric in the face of the Trump administration's crackdown on higher education, removing terms like "anti-racism" from their websites and emphasizing viewpoint, rather than racial, diversity. Penn State is a notable exception to that trend. The university devotes an entire webpage to its Administrative Council on Anti-Racism and Equity—not to be confused with the Council of Campus Multicultural Leaders or the University Equity Leadership Council—which "is comprised of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leaders from various units and professional schools."

Those leaders include Conway, the law school's dean, who also serves as the director of Dickinson Law's "Antiracist Development Institute." Launched in 2021, the institute is working on a series of volumes—none of which have been released—with titles such as Antiracist Admissions, Antiracist Curriculum Development, and Antiracist Academic Success and the Bar Examination. It is based on a project by a third group that Conway leads, the American Association of Law Schools, which states on its website that "it is critical to listen to the voices of Black deans, indigenous deans, and other deans personally impacted by police violence."

The strategic plan, which describes Dickinson Law as a "leader in antiracism," suggests that the law school has reoriented its curriculum around activist concepts. In a section titled "Increase Access to Legal Education for All," the plan pledges to advance "a Historical and Contextual Understanding of the Power and Promise of the U.S. Constitution to Restructure Society Along the Lines of Systemic Equity, Justice, Equality, and Fairness for All." Other action items include "Advancing Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity" and "Prepare all colleagues to teach and learn about institutional antiracism."

The law schools will "leverage the Penn State Dickinson Law brand and its leadership on Antiracism to attract students, staff, faculty, and administrators," the plan reads. It will "publicize the Law School's commitment to leading on antiracism in service to promoting the rule of law and defending the U.S. Constitution."

The post 'Antiracist Critical Pedagogy': Penn State Law School's New Strategic Plan, Devoted to 'Antiracism,' Raises Legal Questions appeared first on .