Case Western Reserve University School of Law began to pursue strategic partnerships in 2020 with select Historically Black Colleges and Universities in an ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.
These partnerships offer incentives to students graduating from those institutions to apply and enroll at CWRU Law to encourage a greater number of under-represented minority students to attend the law school.
Howard University, a historically Black research university located in Washington, D.C., is now a partner in this endeavor.
“Howard teaches and trains their students in the same way we teach ours.” said Bryan Adamson, professor and associate dean of diversity and inclusion at CWRU Law, who has taken the lead in negotiating the partnerships.
CWRU Law has several connections to the area, with nearly 500 alumni residing in Washington, D.C., and the new president of Howard University, Ben Vinson III, was previously the provost of Case Western Reserve University.
Graduates of CWRU Law have ample opportunities for experiential learning in Washington, D.C., as well as prospective employment in the area after graduation.
Adamson said diversity is a core value at CWRU Law and access to justice is essential for a democratic society and that diversity in the legal profession provides access to legal services that all communities deserve.
Since the partnership program began, the number of partnerships forged has reached thirteen and include Hispanic- and Native-American-serving institutions of higher education.
Michael Scharf, co-dean at CWRU Law, said the law school has more of these strategic partnership agreements than practically any other law school thanks to Adamson’s efforts.
These pipeline agreements started with Hampton University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Xavier University (Louisiana). Since then, the school has added Tuskegee University, Tougaloo College, University of Alaska Anchorage, Dominican University, Bemidji State University, Dillard University, the University of North Carolina-Pembroke and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
