DEI as Cultural Commitment in an Era of Backlash

Authors

Christopher D. Hampson, University of Florida Levin College of LawFollow
Elise Bernlohr Maizel, Michigan State University College of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2024

Abstract

In 2023, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions in the companion cases Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. University of North Carolina (SFFA), conservative officials and activists began threatening (and taking) legal action against private law firms, arguing that their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs violated state and federal law. This development should matter to bankruptcy lawyers, both as citizens of our own law firms and as counsel to companies in financial distress. We hope that this rolling assault on DEI does not portend the end of the values enshrined in those three letters; rather, it can provide an opportunity to think creatively about what those values really mean — and how best to reflect them in our organizational cultures.

Recommended Citation

Christopher D. Hampson & Elise Bernlohr Maizel, DEI as Cultural Commitment in an Era of Backlash, 43 Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 1 (2024).