On July 6, 2026, Defending Education (DE) submitted a comment to the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association (ABA) supporting the repeal of Standard 303(c). That standard requires law schools to teach about bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism at two points in a student’s legal education.
DE’s comment explains why Standard 303(c) is legally suspect and how it has become a tool to push divisive ideas. It also shows how the standard has worked in practice. For example, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a mandatory session for first-year law students held to satisfy Standard 303(c) included a “Tell the Truth” worksheet asking students to identify their own personal “racist” beliefs and behaviors.
DE urges the ABA to repeal Standard 303(c), not to repackage race-based or ideologically prescriptive rules under Standard 302, to leave the content of such training to each school, and not to weaponize its position to advance its political preferences.
Read the full comment below: