New Hampshire Federal Judge Dismisses Trump Administration’s Anti-DEI Policy In Education – AfroTech
A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s anti-DEI push in education.
As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the administration sent a letter to public schools in February 2025 that discouraged race from being considered in their admissions practices, hiring processes, scholarship programs, and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
This decision was informed by the administration’s belief that DEI practices discriminate against white and Asian American students. Schools that continued to uphold DEI efforts were asked to verify compliance by signing a certification or risk losing federal funding.
The administration’s action was challenged by several institutions across the U.S. for allegedly violating the First Amendment, including a group of New Hampshire school districts, state and national branches of the National Education Association, a teachers’ union, and the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin. In March 2025, they filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire in Concord in response to the New Hampshire Department of Education’s request that districts audit contracts and vendors to determine whether they violated the new policy.
In April 2025, New Hampshire Federal Judge Landya McCafferty delayed enforcement of the policy and weeks later issued a temporary preliminary injunction blocking changes to its enforcement within New Hampshire school districts, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported.
On Feb. 3, the Department of Education filed an agreement with the New Hampshire plaintiffs, which was signed by Judge McCafferty on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2025, per the New Hampshire Bulletin.
“This ruling ensures that educators can engage in scholarship and teach history, literature, and other subjects where race, gender, and the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion appear, without fear of arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement,” said Sarah Hinger, deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, in a statement, according to the outlet. “It affirms that educators must be free to teach and that students have a right to a full and honest education that reflects the diversity of their communities and prepares them to participate in our democracy.”
There is also a separate lawsuit challenging New Hampshire’s 2025 ban on DEI programs and policies affecting state agencies, schools, and local governments. The lawsuit is pending, and Judge McCafferty temporarily blocked the law in September, notes the New Hampshire Bulletin.
