Conference Addresses Inclusion in Legal Education

A committee of College of Law faculty and staff who are committed to diversity and inclusion is hosting a conference Friday, Oct. 17, titled “Addressing Critical Needs: Cultivating Alliances and Committing to a Culture of Racial and Ethnic Inclusion in Legal Education.” The conference will be from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in Dineen Hall.

“This conference is focused on racial and ethnic inclusion as schools are experiencing a decline in enrollment, which further impacts the decline in the enrollment of students of color,” says Melanie Cuevas-Rodriguez, one of the organizers. “For those students who do make it through our door, we need to ensure they feel supported, empowered and part of the community and the profession.”

The conference aims to:

•evaluate institutional efforts toward achieving meaningful inclusion of students of color from the pipeline, to the classroom, to the workplace.

• identify and implement effective approaches to increase racial and ethnic diversity in law schools.

• develop essential lawyering skills and cultural competencies to meet the legal needs of diverse communities.

• explore how law schools can create an environment where students of color thrive, engage and remain connected to the law school and the legal community at large.

• devise an action plan for law schools and legal employers that incorporates deliberate efforts to make inclusion matter in their institutions and their communities.

The keynote speaker will be Marc-Tizoc González, associate professor at the St. Thomas University School of Law. González has been engaging multi-dimensional issues of diversity, inclusion and social justice within law schools and the legal profession for over a decade. Undertaking such work as a law student, an attorney, a community organizer, a consultant, a bar leader and a professor in both J.D. and undergraduate programs, he brings a unique perspective on and from the positions of multiple constituencies invested in the topic of this conference.

González teaches and writes in the areas of property, poverty, social justice lawyering and Latina and Latino critical legal theory. He is a co-author of the American Bar Association report “Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps,” and a contributor to the forthcoming Oxford University Press “Encyclopedia of Latino/a Law, Politics and Social Movements.”

The registration fee for Syracuse University faculty and staff is $25. To register, visit the conference registration page.