Georgetown law dean condemns top DC prosecutor’s threat to not hire students over DEI

(CNN) — The dean of Georgetown University Law Center on Thursday rebuked a threat from the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, that he would not hire the law school’s students if it does not remove diversity, equity and inclusion from its curriculum.

Dean William Treanor accused Ed Martin, a Trump ally, of trying to interfere with the curriculum of the law school, which is private and therefore not regulated by the federal government.

“Your letter informs me that your office will deny our students and graduates government employment opportunities until you, as Interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, approve of our curriculum,” Treanor wrote to Martin in a letter dated Thursday. “Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution.”

Martin, in a letter emailed to the dean on Monday, said he had been notified that the law school “continues to promote and teach DEI,” according to the Associated Press.

“This is unacceptable,” he said, warning Treanor that Georgetown law students will not be selected for an internship, fellowship or employment at the US Attorney’s Office in Washington until his “letter of inquiry” is sorted out.

Martin’s letter comes as the Trump administration has moved to curb DEI practices. In one of President Donald Trump’s first moves after returning to office, the White House ordered federal employees in any DEI and accessibility offices to be placed on paid administrative leave. Federal agencies were then directed to terminate the offices themselves.

CNN has reached out to Martin’s office for comment on Treanor’s response.

Treanor added in the letter Friday that the university “was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding.

“For us at Georgetown, this principle is a moral and educational imperative,” the dean continued.

Martin, a right-wing activist and staunch Trump ally, has used his office to aggressively push Trump’s retribution agenda. Within hours of becoming interim US attorney for DC on Inauguration Day, Martin swiftly used his powers to dismiss pending January 6-related cases. He then fired prosecutors who were involved, and launched an internal review to hunt for possible misconduct. Last week, Martin demoted at least eight senior federal prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases.

The Associated Press and CNN’s Marshall Cohen, Evan Perez, Jamie Gangel, Casey Gannon and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.

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