(Williamsport, PA)—The Liberty Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit against Pennsylvania State University Extension School on behalf of Dr. Molly Kelly, an Enology Extension Educator who was twice denied promotion after Penn State officials faulted her for not sufficiently advancing the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda.
Dr. Kelly has worked for Penn State Extension since 2018 and is currently an Educator Level 4. She became eligible for promotion to Educator Level 5 in 2023 and applied twice. Each time, the State Promotion Review Committee acknowledged “some evidence” she met Level 5 requirements, but criticized her dossier for failing to demonstrate sufficient DEI-related efforts and messaging.
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.” After she reapplied, a 2025 denial letter questioned her diversity-related activities and stated the “perception is that this ‘checked the box.’”
The usage of DEI-focused criteria and compelled DEI narratives, rather than merit, by the hiring committee is a violation of Dr. Kelly’s First and Fourteenth Amendment, and the Liberty Justice Center is committed to seeking justice for her and so many like her. The continued use of DEI-criteria for hiring, firing, and admission processes is illegal, and Dr. Kelly is one of many clients the Liberty Justice Center has served and defended from individual liberty violations by higher education institutions. In Kleinschmit v. University of Illinois Chicago, filed February 2025, LJC sued the University of Illinois Chicago for terminating a professor when he criticized their DEI-based hiring practices. Additionally, when Dr. Abraham was denied inclusion in prestigious governance committees at the University of Arizona after he opposed and sought records about unlawful, race-based hiring and selection practices tied to DEI initiatives, LJC stepped in to defend him.
“Public universities are not allowed to condition employment decisions on the parroting of a preferred viewpoint,” said Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel and Director of Amicus Practice at the Liberty Justice Center. “DEI requirements operate as tools of coercion, demanding that all scholarship serve ideological ends. The First Amendment requires more—that our government institutions leave open the marketplace of ideas to all citizens.”
Kelly v. Pennsylvania State University Extension was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on February 5, 2026. Penn State violated Dr. Kelly’s First and Fourteenth Amendments by using DEI-focused criteria and compelled DEI narratives, rather than merit, to block her advancement and must be held accountable.
The complaint in Kelly v. Pennsylvania State University Extension is available here.