The University of Alabama School of Law will launch a diversity-focused summer program starting this year. Such programs have become a trend across the country lately and Alabama Law is pleased to offer the program at the undergraduate level. The four-week, cost-free program will focus on students that have been historically underrepresented.
“We are grateful for the generous grants that allow us to initiate the Summer Scholars Program,” said Alabama Law Dean Mark E. Brandon. “The program will permit us to support prospective students as they prepare to apply to law school, and it will provide participants an extraordinary experience that shows them not only what law school is like, but also what a life in this noble profession can be.”
Anil Mujumdar, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence, says that the program will provide participants with the necessary foundation for success as they enter law school and the legal profession.
The Alabama Law Summer Scholars Program will run its course from May 31 to June 30, 2022 at the school and is currently taking applicants through March 27, 2022.
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The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law will require all graduating students to take at least one course on race and the law as a requirement for graduation. The entering J.D. class of August 2023 will be the first to adhere to this requirement.
Students will have to complete at least two units from a list of classes that focus on the way laws and the legal system at large are influenced by and shaped by racism and systemic inequality. The faculty has committed to offering a larger number of classes of this ilk to accommodate the new requirement, as well as elective classes that will introduce students to a wider range of theoretical perspectives on legal institutions.
“I am delighted that the faculty overwhelmingly approved this recommendation,” said Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “No law student can be prepared to practice law in any field without an understanding of the role of race in American law, both historically and today. A distinguishing characteristic of Berkeley Law is our public mission, and this requirement sends an important message about our school’s commitment to equality and justice.”
The new requirement was the end goal of the work the school’s Curriculum Committee began in 2020, which was itself prompted by much work from 14 student organizations across the school.
“I think one of the things that attracts students to Berkeley Law is the culture of activism here,” said second-year student and Curriculum Committee member Alison Luna. “I get the sense from many fellow students that they not only want to change the world for the better, but also have a plan to do it.”
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Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law has received a $3 million gift from W. Bruce Lunsford, a Chase Law alumnus and investor. The donation, the largest gift in the school’s history, will help expand the law and technology program, which Lunsford helped launch almost 10 years ago.
Lunsford donated $1 million in 2013 to create the W. Bruce Lunsford Academy for Law, Business and Technology.
“My initial vision was to provide expanded opportunities for stellar students to better prepare them to thrive in the evolving world of technology and business practices,” Lunsford said. “I look forward to the continuing evolution of the academy in the years ahead.”
The academy is an honors program that caters to high-level students by providing them with hands-on and conceptual training to apply the laws to the ever-increasing matters of business and technology.
Lunsford’s donation will allow the academy to increase Lunsford Fellowships for students that work in the technology sector, as well as broaden their opportunities for entrepreneurship and expand their geographical networking and placement opportunities.
