Course demanded that students ‘acknowledge the reality of systemic racism’
The dean of Penn State Dickinson Law resigned on Friday after a former student testified before Congress about the school’s mandatory anti-racism class, which required all first-year students to “acknowledge the reality of systemic racism.”
The school announced that Danielle Conway, who also leads the Association of American Law Schools, was stepping down as dean “effective immediately.” The move came two days after David Blackman, a Texas military veteran, said at a congressional hearing that he had left the law school over his objections to the course, which Conway created in 2020. She will remain on the law school’s faculty.
In a short press release on Friday, Penn State declined to thank Conway for her service. University provost Fotis Sotiropoulos said the school “remains fully committed to continuing to provide our law students with an excellent legal education.”
For his part, Blackman is taking a victory lap, telling the Washington Free Beacon that Conway’s departure is “a necessary acknowledgment” of the damage she caused.
“The law school shifted away from traditional, objective legal training in favor of forced ideological orthodoxy,” Blackman said. “This erosion of professional neutrality hurts the legal academy, the bar, and every student forced to comply.”
He added that Penn State should “take the logical next step” and eliminate the required course.