Press Release  AG Campbell Issues Multistate Guidance For Schools On Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Accessibility Initiatives

BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led a coalition of 15 attorneys general in issuing guidance to ensure K-12 schools, colleges, and universities across the nation understand the legality, viability, and importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies and practices in education. Today’s multistate guidance follows and builds upon guidance issued by AG Campbell and the Healey-Driscoll Administration on February 26, 2025, which updated a 2023 guidance after the ruling in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA).

The coalition’s guidance also comes in response to recent Executive Orders and the U.S. Department of Education’s February 14th “Dear Colleague” letter and subsequent FAQ document targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies and programming in schools. The coalition’s guidance reminds educational entities that nothing in the “Dear Colleague” letter or FAQ changes existing law, and that the President cannot change longstanding legal precedent by Executive Order, a “Dear Colleague” letter or FAQ. 

Opponents of diversity initiatives have sought to improperly expand the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow ruling in SFFA far beyond its scope. The guidance clarifies that while SFFA limited the ability of institutions of higher education to consider an applicant’s race in and of itself as a positive factor for admission, schools can still work to diversify their applicant pools and student bodies through recruitment efforts. The guidance notes that institutions do not have to ignore race when identifying prospective students for outreach and recruitment programs, provided such programs do not give students preference based on racial status, and that all students have the same opportunity to apply and compete for admission. Schools can continue to target outreach to potential applicants based on a wide range of characteristics, such as academic interests, geographic residency, financial means and socioeconomic status, family background, and parental education level.

The guidance also encourages K-12 schools to strive for a learning environment where all students feel safe, supported, respected, and ready to learn. School leaders can do this by reviewing their current practices to ensure that their district complies with anti-discrimination, anti-bullying, and civil rights laws, and by adopting programs and policies that incorporate best practices and meet the needs of their communities. In addition, the attorneys general identify steps schools can take to ensure that all students, including those from historically underrepresented backgrounds, are prepared for college or careers.

Joining AG Campbell in issuing this guidance, which she co-led with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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