Attorney General Ellison issues multistate guidance for schools on legal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives

Joins coalition of 15 AGs in multistate response to executive order and misleading US Dept. of Education letter and FAQ to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities

‘Nothing in the letter or FAQ changes existing law and well-stablished legal principles’ that encourage schools to create diverse and accessible learning environments; ‘the President cannot change longstanding legal precedent by executive order’

March 5, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in issuing guidance to help K-12 schools, colleges and universities understand the legality, viability, and importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies and practices in education.

The guidance comes in response to concerns following a Trump administration executive order and the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter and FAQ document of February 14 and 28 respectively targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies and programming in schools. They write that those documents “misconstrue Supreme Court precedent, wrongly imply that it might be unlawful for schools to consider the impact of policies and practices on diversity, and create a misimpression of the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programming and its legality.”

The coalition’s guidance reminds educational entities that efforts to seek out and support diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible educational experiences for students are legal, that “nothing in the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter or FAQ changes existing law and well-established legal principles that encourage — and even require — schools to promote educational opportunity for students of all backgrounds,” and that “the President cannot change longstanding legal precedent by executive order, and a Dear Colleague letter and FAQ document certainly cannot do so.”

“My fellow attorneys general and I are releasing this guidance to set the record straight: schools, colleges, and universities have broad latitude under the law to create diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible educational environments,” Attorney General Ellison said. “The coordinated disinformation campaign by the Trump Administration and others does not and cannot change the law with respect to higher education admissions. It does not and cannot prohibit or restrict universities from pursuing and implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts. And it does not and cannot keep K-12 schools from complying with state anti-discrimination and human-rights laws or from creating welcoming environments where every child can succeed. We attorneys general will continue to push back on their efforts to mislead and intimidate students, teachers, and administrators, and we will not let them take us back to Jim Crow.”

In their guidance, the attorneys general emphasize that institutions of higher education can continue to create missions and set goals related to student body diversity and equitable outcomes for students and can use all legal methods to pursue them. They also include tips to help K-12 schools set their students up for success.

Opponents of diversity initiatives have misleadingly implied the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow ruling in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA) extends far beyond its scope. Attorney General Ellison and the coalition clarify 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. They note 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.

Attorney General Ellison and the coalition also encourage K-12 schools to strive for a school climate 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 Attorney General Ellison in releasing today’s guidance are Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the coalition, and the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.