It seems that public institutions in Kansas see laws as mere suggestions.
At the University of Kansas’s School of Social Welfare, for example, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is still heavily injected into the curriculum, in spite of a law banning such practices.
“We’re an accredited program and so we have to teach anti-racist diversity, equity, and inclusion. Like that is the principle of social work,” Ella Peterson, a recruitment coordinator in the school of social welfare told Accuracy in Media’s undercover journalist on hidden camera.
The school is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), as are most social work programs across the country.
According to a 2022 copy of CSWE’s standards for accreditation, programs must “Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice.” This is considered one of nine “core competencies.”
Peterson also revealed to AIM’s journalist that since anti-DEI policies have been enacted, they’ve only changed course names, without altering the actual DEI content.
“The biggest things we’ve had to face is some of our class titles have changed,” she explained. “But the curriculum within those classes, the things like the materials you’re reading, the conversations you’re having–like you can’t be a social worker without being rooted in social justice.”
According to her, “you are still getting the diversity equity and inclusion stuff. You’re still getting social justice.”
As for “anti-racism” content, Peterson assured AIM’s undercover journalist that the woke ideology is “100 percent” still being taught.
In 2025, Kansas’s legislature banned DEI from public institutions, such as the University of Kansas.
The Kansas Board of Regents issued its own directive to public state universities, advising them to eliminate all positions, mandates, policies, programs, preferences, activities, and trainings relating to DEI. Employees were also required to remove pronouns from their email signatures and business cards.
President Trump has taken several federal actions against DEI as well. He issued his own executive orders banning the woke ideology from institutions that receive federal funding.
Schools like the University of Kansas are able to rely on accreditation standards as an excuse to ignore anti-DEI laws, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, several states have sought to develop their own accreditation bodies, without DEI requirements. This way, social work programs can’t use accreditation as a loophole to defy the law and preserve their DEI indoctrination.
Kansas must act to close the loophole.
Visit DEIInKansas.com where you can send one convenient message that goes directly to all relevant officials. Tell them to take action against loopholes keeping DEI in schools.
This article originally appeared on Accuracy In Media. It is republished with permission.
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