In 2022, the ABA updated its Standard 303, Curriculum which relates to “cross-cultural competency” and “professional identity.” Because the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is responsible for law school accreditation through an appointment from the U.S. Department of Education (and the agreement of State Bars), this change and the ways it can be implemented could have widespread implications.
This panel will discuss the nature of the obligations the revised Standard places on law schools and the scope of such terms as "cross-cultural competency" and "racism." Do these new standards require new courses or course changes? Will the new courses displace any of the old ones? Will the implementation turn out to be education or training? Does this standard create any tension with later developments in law including Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC (2023)? What role does the Department of Education and State Bars have in scrutinizing and altering the effects of this new standard?
Featuring:

Dean Michael F. Barry, Professor of Law and Former President and Dean, South Texas College of Law Houston
Dr. Dayna Bowen Matthew, Dean & Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
Ms. Jennifer L. Rosato Perea, Managing Director, Accreditation and Legal Education, ABA
Hon. Nels Peterson, Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
Moderator: Hon. Carlos T. Bea, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit