The diversity forefront has changed in legal education. Law schools are no longer just talking about diversity — they are taking action.
“We are with a generation of students who want concrete actions and outcomes,” said James Hackney, dean of Northeastern University School of Law. “I think they’re thirsting to make a difference and to be in an environment that wants to encourage making a difference and also inclusion and wellbeing.”
During the past three years, law schools have announced a flurry of new centers, journals and clinics devoted to racial justice and civil rights issues. Schools have also introduced new initiatives and scholarships to attract students interested in racial justice reform and to prepare them to have a career in this area.
In 2020, preLaw magazine identified schools for the first time that stood out for such offerings, with Howard University School of Law at the top.
This year, the list has grown to 26 schools earning an A+, A or A-.
Howard University remains in the top spot, followed by other diversity-minded schools, such as City University of New York School of Law (No. 2) and University of California Davis School of Law (No. 3).
Two of the most prestigious law schools in the nation remain on the list — Georgetown University Law Center and University of California, Berkeley, School of Law — while Boston University School of Law and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law were added this year. UCLA School of Law (No. 4), Fordham University School of Law (No. 8), and Northeastern University (No. 10) were all added this year. All include robust racial justice programs and initiatives that you’ll read about further in this story.
Schools from around the nation make the list including, New York Law School, University of California Berkeley School of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law to name a few more.
What all of the schools have in common is a commitment to racial justice issues that is supported through their curriculum and by their faculties.
Twenty-three of the 26 schools offer clinics that allow students to work on racial justice matters, 23 fund centers on the subject, 15 have journals that deal with racial justice and all offer substantial courses on the subject.
Just this year, several of the top law schools established new courses and centers.
Read the full story and see the full list of racial justice leaders in the Fall 2022 issue of preLaw magazine.
