University of North Texas relies on woke accreditation body to keep DEI in classrooms
April 6, 2026
Universities across the country believe they’ve found the perfect loophole to circumvent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion bans, even in red states like Texas.
At the University of North Texas, DEI remains intact and faculty say it must stay in place to keep the school’s social work program up and running.
Paige Falco, a Field Education Coordinator in UNT’s Social Work department, confirmed on Accuracy in Media’s hidden camera that DEI is “definitely still a focus,” despite Texas lawmakers having passes a clear law against it.
She explained to AIM’s undercover journalist that the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is responsible for UNT’s accreditation and it requires DEI as a core competency.
The CSWE has several standards that must be met for accreditation. According to a 2022 copy of these standards, programs must “Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice.” This is considered one of nine “core competencies.”
“We have to change some things and, like, modify curriculum to an extent. But we still focus on that,” Falco said.
“It’s one of those things where you have to, like …we need to follow the law because that’s what it is and that’s where we’re at right now, but there’s also ways that we can still kind of get around it and, you know, teach what we need to teach and teach what should be taught,” she added.
Not only is DEI still being taught at UNT, the social work program is actually moving forward with plans to expand its focus on DEI in its field instructor training.
According to Falco, “we’re editing our field instructor training to, like, really focus on that competency in particular because that’s a question for field instructors, especially when they’re working for government agencies–how can we do this and how can we employ this? And because it’s really required for us in our education. We talk to them about that.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, signed a bill banning most instances of DEI in public universities in 2023. When President Donald Trump returned to office, he issued executive orders also targeting DEI at universities that rely on taxpayer funding.
But universities like UNT seem to believe that the CSWE’s accreditation standards supersede both state and federal law.
Several states, such as Florida, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, have begun the process of establishing their own accreditation bodies that don’t require DEI.
Every state should follow these examples to ensure the CSWE is no longer an excuse for woke universities to keep pushing destructive DEI.
Visit DEIinTexas.com to send one message that goes directly to all relevant trustees. Let them know taxpayers don’t want their hard-earned money funding DEI in defiance of the law.