JOINT STATEMENT FROM NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION AND NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

A United Call to Preserve and Strengthen DEI Commitments in Education and Beyond

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, June 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The National Bar Association (NBA) and the National Medical Association (NMA)—the nation’s oldest and largest organizations representing Black legal and medical professionals—write to express our great concern and unified condemnation of recent decisions by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) to remove or weaken accreditation standards that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in law and medical education.

These actions represent a dangerous and regressive step that undermines decades of progress in expanding opportunity, dismantling institutional bias, and ensuring that our professions reflect and serve the full diversity of the American people. At a time when structural inequities in health and justice persist, our institutions should be deepening—not retreating from—their commitments to equity and inclusion.

The ABA’s decision to extend Standard 206 suspension to 2026, which required law schools to demonstrate a commitment to DEI, and the LCME’s move to remove similar standards in medical education (Element 3.3), are not merely administrative changes—they are moral failures. These changes send a chilling message to aspiring Black lawyers and physicians that their presence, perspectives, and potential are expendable.

Legal and medical professionals bear immense responsibility in upholding justice, protecting life, and advancing the public good. To fulfill that charge, we must foster learning environments that are inclusive, representative, and responsive to the diverse communities we serve. Erasing DEI from accreditation standards weakens that imperative and signals a capitulation to political pressure rather than adherence to principle.

We call on the ABA and LCME to reverse these harmful decisions. We urge law schools and medical schools across the nation to remain steadfast in their DEI efforts regardless of shifting accreditation guidelines. And we reaffirm our joint commitment to fighting for systems that are not only excellent, but equitable with equal access and inclusion for all.

Our professions cannot serve the public fully without diversity. Our future cannot be just without inclusion. And our democracy cannot live up to its promise without both.

In solidarity,

Wiley S. Adams
Centennial President
National Bar Association

Virginia A. Caine, M.D.
125th President
National Medical Association

Tanya Wiley-Brown
National Bar Association
+1 336-345-2628
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