Rate My Professor Kyle Velte

Kyle Velte is Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty, and Karelitz Chair in Evidence Law at the University of Kansas School of Law, where she joined the faculty as Associate Professor in 2018 and was promoted to full Professor in 2022. She directs the Social Justice Certificate Program and teaches Evidence, Torts, Employment Discrimination, Professional Responsibility, and Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & the Law. Velte's scholarship examines the intersection of sexuality, gender, religion, and law, focusing on tensions between religious freedom and LGBTQ civil rights along legal, policy, and theoretical axes. Her articles have appeared in leading journals including Yale Law & Policy Review, Cardozo Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Temple Law Review, and St. Louis University Law Journal. Notable publications include "Recovering the Race Analogy in LGBT Religious Exemption Cases" (42 Cardozo L. Rev. 67, 2020; winner of Dukeminier Award), "The Supreme Court’s Gaslight Docket" (96 Temple L. Rev. 391, 2024), "Debunking the Narrowness Narrative in LGBTQ Rights Cases" (68 St. Louis U. L.J. 885, 2024), and "Identity and Procedural Subordination in LGBTQ Religious Exemption Cases" (31 Wm. & Mary J. Race, Gender & Soc. Just. 117, 2025).

Prior to KU Law, Velte was Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University School of Law (2015-2018), where she also acted as Director of Bar Preparation Resources, and Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Legal Externship Program at University of Denver Sturm College of Law (2011-2015). She practiced as partner at Reilly Pozner LLP (2009-2011), handling complex commercial litigation, and clerked for Justice Alex Martinez of the Colorado Supreme Court (2001-2002) and Judge Roxanne Bailin of the 20th Judicial District (1999-2000). Velte holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School (2001), J.D. summa cum laude from American University Washington College of Law (1999), and B.A. cum laude in Women’s Studies from Hamilton College (1993). She has co-authored or filed amicus briefs in U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, Obergefell v. Hodges, and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Awards include the Moreau Teaching Award (2022), Immel Teaching Award (2021), Ned N. Fleming Trust Award (2021), and Christopher M. Sowo Outstanding Faculty Award (2021). Velte is past President of the Colorado LGBT Bar Association and has served on the Colorado Chief Justice’s Commission on Professional Development and Judicial Performance Commission.