Georgetown Law School has pushed back on a demand from the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who warned that his office wouldn't hire graduates from the school if it didn't scrub its policies and curriculum of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice on Friday morning for comment.
Why It Matters
The initiative encouraged private companies to follow suit, helping it spread beyond the federal government. However, several major companies reaffirmed their commitment to DEI policies or took action to boost diversity in their workforce, including Delta Air Lines, Apple and Sephora.
What To Know
Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin sent a letter to Georgetown Law—dated February 17 but emailed to the school's dean on March 3—demanding the school end all DEI efforts or risk a hiring freeze from his office.
The Washington Post first reported on the letter, which said it was "unacceptable" that the school "continues to promote and teach DEI."
Martin warned that his office wouldn't consider any Georgetown law students for jobs, internships or fellowships until his inquiry was resolved.
In a letter addressed to Martin, William M. Treanor, dean and executive vice president of Georgetown Law, called out the official for making a "threat" against the school and launching an "attack on the University's mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution."
"Your letter informs me that your office will deny our students and
graduates government employment opportunities until you, as Interim
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, approve of our
curriculum," Treanor wrote in the letter posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"Given the First Amendment's protection of a university's freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University's mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution," he continued.
"Georgetown law has one of the preeminent faculties in the country, fostering groundbreaking scholarship, educating students in a wide variety of perspectives, and thriving on the robust exchange of ideas," Treanor wrote.
Treanor noted that the Department of Education last week confirmed that it cannot restrict First Amendment rights and is "statutorily prohibited from 'exercising control over the content of school curricula,'" and that the Supreme Court has "continually affirmed that among the freedoms central to a university's First Amendment rights are its ability to determine, on academic grounds, who may teach, what to teach, and how to teach it."
Martin has stirred controversy during his short tenure, moving last month to demote several senior leaders in Washington's federal prosecutor's office due to their involvement with investigating individuals involved in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. He stressed to employees that the change "is not temporary."
Georgetown Law directed Newsweek to the dean's letter in response to a request for comment.
What People Are Saying
James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large for America Magazine, on X: "This week, Edward Martin, the interim US attorney for Washington, DC, sent a letter to the dean of [Georgetown] Law School threatening to investigate the school if it did not scrub its policies and curriculum of diversity and inclusion initiatives. Here is the Dean's response."
"As a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown, I support this letter wholeheartedly," Martin wrote. "Jesuit education means care for the whole person, in both their spiritual and intellectual lives. And Jesuit practice often involves speaking truth to power."
Steve McGuire, the Paul & Karen Levy fellow in Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, on X: "Georgetown needs reform and it should back away from DEI ideology, but the idea that its law students would be ineligible for government positions because the school teaches DEI is pretty ridiculous."
What Happens Next
The school will await a response from Martin and his office, who will either have to dig in on his threat or acquiesce in the face of public pressure. No DOJ official has commented on the matter.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
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