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Accreditor’s response came after medical watchdog group called on it to end DEI requirements
The sole accrediting agency for social work education in the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and “anti-racism” in a recent letter to a medical watchdog organization.
The Council on Social Work Education wrote in response to a May letter from Do No Harm that urged the accrediting body to remove DEI mandates from its accreditation standards.
As The Center Square first reported Thursday, council CEO Halaevalu Vakalahi told Do No Harm that “diversity” is an important part of social work.
“Let us be clear: CSWE has never imposed a DEI policy deemed illegal at the state or federal level to deny accreditation to any applicant for accreditation or continued accreditation and will not do so in the future,” Vakalahi wrote.
“Your letter suggests that equipping social workers with an understanding of how human differences, discrimination, trauma, poverty, and environment impact people’s lives is itself a source of harm,” Vakalahi wrote. “We disagree with that premise.”
What’s more, Vakalahi told the medical watchdog group that a “social worker cannot effectively treat, advocate for, or support individuals, families, and communities without understanding the context that shapes lived experiences.”
The letter also stated that the accreditor is “very committed to anti-racism,” according to the report.
The accreditor has a number of requirements for schools that offer social work degrees, among them that students understand “the pervasive impact of White supremacy” and “demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice,” The College Fix previously reported.
These are the standards that Do No Harm, which advocates for merit-based scholarship and against identity politics in medicine, took issue with in its May letter.
“If CSWE remains unwilling to remove its DEI standards from accreditation, then perhaps action will be needed at the state level to untether the dependency on this single accreditor,” Kurt Miceli, its chief medical officer, told The Center Square this week.
“These mandates elevate ideological activism over the essential goal of preparing practitioners who are skilled, ethical, and effective in serving people,” Miceli said. “In doing so, CSWE subordinates the practical competence and client-centered focus that define a true helping profession to a divisive political ideology across the hundreds of schools it accredits.”
A spokesperson for the social work accreditor previously told The Fix that it will never force schools to break any laws, such as DEI bans in red states, through the accreditation standards.
The Fix reported more in May:
In one standard, CSWE mandates students “understand and critique the history and current structures of social policies and services and the role of policy in service delivery through rights- based, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist lenses.”
Another requires students to understand “anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspectives” when evaluating outcomes and delivering effectiveness.
Currently, the Council of Social Work Education accredits almost 900 programs across the country, including the University of Washington, Baylor University, and Arizona State University.
Higher education accrediting groups have been facing scrutiny from the Trump administration regarding their ideological requirements for schools.
MORE: Medical watchdog demands removal of DEI standards in social work education
