The course remains required even though it was the subject of a federal civil rights complaint in May and a heated Congressional testimony<\/a> in late July before a House Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n Protect the Public\u2019s Trust, a watchdog organization, filed the complaint<\/a> to several federal agencies accusing the law school of pushing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and \u201cinstitutional antiracism\u201d in its curriculum, admissions, and hiring. It cited the school\u2019s own Strategic Plan<\/a> as evidence.<\/p>\n David Blackman, a former student at Penn State Dickinson Law, testified<\/a> on July 22 that the course, required for first-year law students, is designed \u201cto teach the structure of the nation\u2019s constitutional democracy through the \u2018lens of enslavement and racism.’\u201d<\/p>\n Blackman was denied a waiver for the course, prompting him to withdraw from Dickinson Law.\u00a0<\/p>\n He told The College Fix the course\u2019s curriculum seeks to discredit the law itself as a tool of racism.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years now, every law student who\u2019s come through Penn State Dickinson Law has had to sit and be told that law enforcement is racist, the law is racist, and it needs to be overturned,\u201d Blackman said via email.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese are 1Ls who decided they wanted to go fight and uphold the law in our nation\u2019s courts, and they\u2019re being told that the very laws that they chose to defend are racist and should be overturned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Blackman, in his testimony, said the course was created in the aftermath of George Floyd\u2019s death.<\/p>\n \u201cOn my very first day of class, faculty \u2026 framed the course\u2019s intent as dismantling \u2018systems of oppression,\u2019 a mandate they described as being \u2018baked into\u2019 the law school\u2019s DNA,\u201d Blackman told lawmakers.<\/p>\n Students were taught that \u201cthe fundamental problem with the American legal system is \u2018white supremacy\u2019 and \u2018patriarchy,\u2019 framing the justice system purely as an instrument of \u2018racial subordination,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Penn State law school dean behind the controversial course stepped down as dean just days after the hearing. In a news release<\/a>, the university announced Dean Danielle Conway would return to the school\u2019s faculty \u201ceffective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2021, Conway launched the Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law, which aims to dismantle structures that scaffold systemic racial inequality using a three-pillar approach based on systems design, institutional antiracism and critical pedagogy,\u201d the news release stated.<\/p>\n \u201cShe also was instrumental in guiding Penn State Dickinson Law\u2019s development of a civil rights, equal protection and social justice certificate program,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Penn State Dickinson Law and Protect the Public\u2019s Trust did not return The College Fix\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Although Penn State\u2019s news release simply said Conway was leaving her position as dean, Intellectual Property Law Clinic Director Jonathan D\u2019Silva said Conway \u201ccharacterized the move as a termination\u201d in a call with her own executive staff, Penn Live reported<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PennStateLawAntiRacismInstitute72.webp\")
The Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law; Penn State Dickinson Law<\/p>\n