Reilly Stephens
Reilly Stephens is a Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Molly Kelly, an Enology Extension Educator at Pennsylvania State University Extension, against the Pennsylvania State University Extension and senior university officials. The case challenges Penn State’s use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology as a condition for promotion, and its refusal to promote Dr. Kelly because she did not sufficiently advance or describe the university’s DEI agenda in her promotion materials.
Dr. Kelly has served at Penn State Extension since 2018, working with grape and wine producers across Pennsylvania and co‑leading the Grape and Wine Team. She currently holds the rank of Educator Level 4 and became eligible for promotion to Educator Level 5 in 2023. She applied for promotion in 2023 and again in 2024.
In both cycles, the State Promotion Review Committee acknowledged that Dr. Kelly’s dossier showed “some evidence of meeting the requirements” for an Educator Level 5, yet each time, the committee denied her promotion after focusing on perceived shortcomings in the civil rights, diversity, and DEI‑related portions of her dossier, rather than her teaching, research, and service.
In a 2024 denial letter, the committee stated there was “no evidence of efforts to reach underserved audiences,” criticized “minimum diversity training hours,” and noted Dr. Kelly used an “old affirmative action and non-discrimination statement.”
When Dr. Kelly revised her materials and reapplied the following year, the 2025 denial letter again centered on DEI concerns. The committee questioned how activities such as site visits and technical assistance to LGBTQ‑owned and Greek Orthodox‑owned businesses reflected “receiving diversity training,” and stated that “the perception is that this ‘checked the box,’” suggesting that her efforts did not conform to the university’s preferred DEI narrative.
As a public institution, Penn State must comply with the First and Fourteenth Amendments. By conditioning promotion on Dr. Kelly’s willingness to frame her work through a DEI lens and articulate specific “learnings” from diversity training, the university has discriminated against Dr. Kelly for failing to promote the administrators’ preferred ideas about diversity, and forced her to endorse a state-approved message on DEI as a prerequisite for advancement in her vocation.
The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit seeks to halt Penn State’s use of DEI ideology as a gatekeeping tool in promotion decisions, to restore a merit‑based process, and to remedy the harm Dr. Kelly has suffered, including lost pay, loss of professional status, and reputational damage among her colleagues and the wider extension community.
“When universities punish educators for failing to conform to the dictates of DEI, they cross a constitutional line,” said Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel and Director of Amicus Practice at the Liberty Justice Center. “Dr. Kelly declined to bend to the ideological coercion that has overtaken our public universities, and we are proud to represent her in asserting her rights.”
Kelly v. Pennsylvania State University Extension was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on February 5, 2026.
Across the country, courageous educators are being denied promotions, stripped of leadership roles, and even fired—for refusing to conform to ideological mandates.
Reilly Stephens is a Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
Jessica Craine is a Staff Attorney at Liberty Justice Center. She is committed to protecting the American people’s civil liberties and ensuring the government adheres to the Constitution.
Scientist. Educator. Advocate for Agricultural Communities.
Dr. Molly Kelly built her career far from campus politics.
Molly Kelly isn’t a culture-war celebrity. She’s a working scientist and educator whose job is helping growers and producers succeed—the kind of practical, community-facing public service people assume universities exist to support.
Dr. Molly Kelly didn’t choose academia to make political statements. She chose it to serve farmers, winemakers, and small agricultural businesses across Pennsylvania.
Since joining Pennsylvania State University Extension in 2018, Dr. Kelly has worked side-by-side with grape growers and wine producers—helping family farms stay viable, advising on crop management, and co-leading the university’s Grape and Wine Team. Her work is hands-on, technical, and deeply rooted in the communities she serves.
Colleagues recognized her expertise. Producers relied on her guidance. And by every traditional academic measure—teaching, service, applied research—she was qualified for promotion.
But when Dr. Kelly applied to advance to the next level of her career, the focus shifted away from her agricultural impact. Instead, reviewers scrutinized how she described diversity initiatives, whether she had logged enough training hours, and whether her work had been framed through the university’s preferred DEI lens.
She revised her materials. She reapplied. She tried again.
Each time, the answer was the same: her professional accomplishments were acknowledged—but deemed insufficient because they did not conform to ideological expectations.
Dr. Kelly now finds herself fighting not just for a promotion, but for the principle that public educators should be judged on the quality of their work—not the politics of their paperwork.
“I did the work. I served my community. But it wasn’t enough because I wouldn’t frame it politically.”
Greg Piper | February 11, 2026 (Just the News) – Want a promotion in a Pennsylvania State University agricultural program? Be prepared to wax poetic on going above and beyond to advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). That’s the narrative in a First and 14th Amendment lawsuit by a wine-science...
Alan Wooten | February 5, 2026 (The Center Square) – First and 14th amendments were violated by the Penn State University Extension School because of “DEI-focused criteria and compelled DEI narratives, rather than merit” in the denial of an employee’s promotion, says a lawsuit filed Thursday. In U.S. District Court...
Liz Lykins | February 10, 2026 (wng.org) When teacher of wine and winemaking Molly Kelly tried to get a promotion at Penn State University Extension School, officials told her that she needed to do more diversity work. So the enology educator reached out to LGBTQ and Greek Orthodox–owned businesses, visiting...
Danielle Shockey | February 5, 2026 (Tampa Free Press) A veteran wine educator at Pennsylvania State University is taking her employer to federal court, alleging that her professional advancement was derailed not by a lack of expertise, but by her refusal to embrace the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)...