RWU Working on “the Pipeline”
One of the challenges facing legal education is the small pool of students from traditionally-underrepresented groups who are prepared to pursue a legal education. Efforts are being made at the national, state, and local levels to increase law school interest and readiness among such students of color, and RWU has a number of such “pipeline initiatives.”
One example: last week we hosted about 100 students from the Providence Academy for International Studies (PAIS). They spent a day on the RWU campus, and an hour in the law school, hearing from two members of the law faculty (Professors Jorge Elorza and Keeva Terry) and two law students (Collin Bailey and Alex Morel). As Professor Elorza said, “The harder you work, the luckier you will be,” and each panelist recounted the steps they took on the road to their current professional success. Here is a picture of the panelists with some of the PAIS students.
Another pipeline initiative unique to Roger Williams is our Diversity Symposium Dinner. This annual event brings together high school students, college students, law students and members of the RI bar and judiciary to discuss issues relevant to communities traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession. Also, several times each year RWU representatives speak to students in urban high schools around the state to spread the message that law school is a viable option to youth who may have the ability but not yet the focus to make a career in the law.
RWU, in conjunction with the Thurgood Marshall Law Society, is also active in a national program, Street Law, which sends law students into urban high school classrooms to provide information on legal issues and individual rights. This year, more than a dozen RWU law students will participate.
These are just some of the ways that RWU is playing its part in the effort to diversify the legal profession.
