The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) named Emelyn dela Peña its next president and she immediately framed her agenda around legal clarity and institutional accountability. Dela Peña told The Chronicle she will focus on leadership development, research, best practices and advocacy while urging diversity officers to be explicit about goals amid an unsettled legal environment. Her appointment comes as a federal judge invalidated a 2025 Department of Education directive on race‑conscious programs, even as other federal guidance and DOJ memos continue to threaten some DEI practices. Dela Peña said NADOHE will help members navigate what is and isn’t legal and press institutions to live up to commitments made to diversity professionals during the campus unrest of 2020. For campus executives, the development signals a dual track: legal risk management and renewed internal accountability. Chief diversity officers and general counsel should expect intensified guidance from their professional association and consider coordinated messaging and policy reviews to align institutional statements, hiring, and program activities with the shifting legal baseline.