Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse

The year 2020 will be known not only for the coronavirus pandemic that swept across the globe but also for the antiracist protests that focused attention on cascades of killings of Black people by police with impunity, a racial hoax that potentially placed a Black man in mortal danger because a white dog owner did not want to follow park rules to leash her dog, and the teargassing of and violence against peaceful protestors lawfully protesting against injustice. Many of us are asking ourselves what we can do as Black law deans, women law deans, LGBTQ law deans, people of color law deans, allied law deans, and deans with varying intersectional identities to address the malady of racism and the assault on black bodies. The AALS is taking various steps, including the curation of this webpage, to respond to racism in the United States, a scourge that threatens both our democracy and the rule of law.

By creating a space for our collective voices as leaders of law schools to engage our institutions in the fight for justice and equality, we strive to focus our teaching, scholarship, service, activism, programming, and initiatives on strategies to eradicate racism.

To engage as Antiracists, we must listen and learn from each other’s experiences, lead our communities by example, audit our schools to ensure progress toward racial equality (with an understanding that race cannot be neatly segregated from socioeconomic class), influence policy, and iterate our commitment to the fight for racial equality, all to demonstrate our resolve to eradicate racism in the United States.

This antiracist work requires listening to our dean colleagues whose lived experiences with racism offer painful truths about being Black in this country and in the legal profession. This antiracist work requires learning from experts who have conducted research and produced scholarship focused on the negative impacts of racism and intersectional oppressions on Black people in America. This antiracist work requires deans to lead our law schools according to visionary statements and actions that demonstrate a commitment to delivering on an antiracist program of legal education. This antiracist work requires auditing our programs of legal education to assess our progress toward diversifying our faculties, our staff, and especially our student bodies, which in turn diversify our profession. Finally, this work requires design-thinking vigilance—a rinse and repeat if you will—to engage in an iterative process to ensure that we as leaders challenge and reshape the rule of law and institutional practices when they do not yield equity for people of color as well as remain committed to a sustained Antiracist agenda.

The Listening Phase

In the weeks after the killing of George Floyd, law school deans from around the country addressed their law school communities. Before we begin to lead as a group in working to address systemic racism, it is critical to listen to the voices of Black deans, indigenous deans, and other deans personally impacted by police violence.

Angela Onwuachi-Willig
Boston University School of Law
The Fire This Time: Reflections on Killings and Protests

Kim Mutcherson
Rutgers Law School
Link to statement (PDF)

Carla D. Pratt
Washburn University School of Law
Comments About Recent Events

Danielle Holley-Walker
Howard University School of Law
Link to statement (PDF)

Danielle M. Conway
Penn State Dickinson Law
A Message to the Penn State Dickinson Law Community

The Learning Phase

It is important that as law school leaders we draw on the extensive research that has been done by legal scholars on the issues of police brutality, systemic racism in our criminal justice system, and police reform. These resources are intended to provide a guide to assist deans and other law faculty as we begin to collaborate on meaningful interventions to address these complex issues.

Music

Gil Scott Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Bob Marley, War
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Garner Family, I Can’t Breathe
Miguel, How Many
Common and John Legend, Glory
Daye Jack and Killer Mike, Hands Up
Lauryn Hill, Black Rage
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Jamila Woods, White Privilege II
Public Enemy, Fight the Power
KRS One, Sound of da Police
Meek Mill, Trauma
Meek Mill and Justin Timberlake, Believe

Art

David Driskell, University of Maryland David Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts & Culture of African Americans & the Africana Diaspora
Theaster Gates, The potter and social activist and his TED Talk
Dianne Smith, Harlem-based artist and social activist
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., Former IBM Executive turned print artist

The Leading Phase

We introduce the Penn State Dickinson Law faculty resolution condemning brutality and inequity against Black people, which was unanimously passed on June 2, 2020. With the resolution, the Dickinson Law faculty:

[A]cknowledges that racism is an affliction that we must never enable but should all be active antiracists in taking responsibility to condemn and to end, that we need to identify and challenge systemic prejudice wherever it exists, that we are all accountable for doing the work necessary for policy changes that dismantle structural systems of oppression that perpetuate racial inequities in our society, that we will strive to be better listeners and supporters of those who are the victims of racism, that we will never rest until every American feels safe, free and accepted in our country, and that we will continuously abide by the goal of providing respect and equal treatment to all in upholding the rule of law.

We offer this resolution as a template to begin discussions within American law schools about how to transform our institutions into ones that reflect the power and the promise of the rule of law to do equity in service to the principle of equal protection of the law.

Law School Adopters:

Washington and Lee University School of Law
Washburn University School of Law

Faculty Resolutions:

University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law (PDF)
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology
Boston University School of Law
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (PDF)
Duquesne University School of Law
Elon University School of Law
University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law
George Washington University Law School (PDF)
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (PDF)
University of Illinois at Chicago John Marshall Law School (PDF)
Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (PDF)
Michigan State University College of Law (PDF)
Mitchell Hamline School of Law (PDF)
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Rutgers Law School (PDF)
University of South Carolina School of Law (PDF)
St. Thomas University School of Law (PDF)
The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
Western New England University School of Law (PDF)
Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School (PDF)
Willamette University College of Law

The Audit Reporting Phase

Law deans are among the many hundreds of thousands of people and institutions asking: “what can I do and how can I act to stop the killing of Black people and dismantle institutional racism.” We educate students and the larger society about the rule of law. Law deans can lean into this work by conducting audits of their respective schools’ programs to answer the following questions:

What are the demographics of your student body, and is this achieving representation?
What are the demographics of your faculty, and is this achieving representation?
Who has status in your institutions and who is included in important institutional discussions?
Has your institution conducted a climate survey?
What Anti-racist curriculum and programming have you developed and implemented?
Are your faculty colleagues prepared to teach Anti-racist pedagogy?
Are mental health resources available for students, staff and faculty who experience racism?
Are employers interviewing your students aware of your school’s anti-racism expectations?
Are your faculty protected against racial bias of students, alumni, and others?
Do your promotion and tenure standards account for bias in student and other evaluations of faculty?
Do your appointments processes account for bias in hiring criteria (e.g. citation counts)?
Are Black students in your school disproportionately paying more for their education and thereby subsidizing discounted tuition for non-Black students? Ask the same question for other students of color, and measure to what extent subsidization is occurring and commit to mitigation.
Are the ways of defining merit/eligibility for Law Review and Moot Court equitable to students of color?
Do you recommend students to the bar who have engaged in conduct demonstrating racial animus during law school?
Do you have an endowed scholarship fund for students who want to do racial justice work? If not, will you create such a fund and name it for a black life that has been ended by police power in your state or city?

Resource for Implementing Antiracist Action

In support of the Scholar Strike for Racial Justice and Teach-in, seven law schools organized the Law School Anti-Racist Coalition Teach-In hosted by University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Organizers

Boston University School of Law
Howard University School of Law
Penn State Dickinson Law
Rutgers Law School
University of California, Irvine School of Law
University of Cincinnati College of Law
Washburn University School of Law

Sessions

In 2021, the University of Idaho College of Law presented its Sovereignty Series online with the theme of “Indigenizing the Curriculum” organized by Professor Dylan Hedden-Nicely. The speaker series brings tribal leaders, scholars, lawyers, and jurists to the University of Idaho to discuss the unique laws and policies that affect Native American tribes and people. The goal of the series is to present information to help law professors integrate Native law topics into their core classes.

Sessions

Sovereignty Series – University of Idaho College of Law

Brian Gallini (Dean, Willamette University College of Law) and Elizabeth Kronk Warner (Dean, S.J. Quinney College of Law) have compiled a list of articles and information regarding race and the bar exam.

Resources for Law School Deans on Race and the Bar Exam

The Iterative Phase: Confirming that our Actions are Consistent with Statements of Solidarity

The iterative phase requires our continuous engagement to operationalize our stated values. Iteration is a function of design thinking, which asks us to be transparent about for whom we are designing problem-solving systems. As well, it asks whether we are innovating new solutions that are continuously undergoing testing and retesting so that these solutions meet the needs of the person, group, community, and society. Iteration requires long-term commitment and sustained effort to accomplish the desired outcome—Justice for All. Thus, while we archive the Law Deans’ statements to their respective communities in reaction to the killing of George Floyd, we urge you to engage iteratively to embed Antiracist Action into your programs of legal education.

Law School Solidarity and Antiracism Statements:

Aviva Abramovsky, University at Buffalo School of Law, The State University of New York (PDF)
Kerry Abrams, Duke University School of Law
Robert B. Ahdieh, Texas A&M University School of Law, Community Forum (PDF)
Robert B. Ahdieh, Texas A&M University School of Law, Our Calling (PDF)
Mark C. Alexander, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law (PDF)
Michèle Alexandre, Stetson University College of Law (PDF)
Vikram David Amar, University of Illinois College of Law (PDF)
Horace Anderson, Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law (PDF)
James Anaya, University of Colorado School of Law, June 3, 2020
James Anaya, University of Colorado School of Law, July 21, 2020 (PDF)
Jerry L. Anderson, Drake University Law School (PDF)
Mario L. Barnes, University of Washington School of Law
D. Benjamin Barros, University of Toledo College of Law (PDF)
Michael F. Barry, South Texas College of Law Houston (PDF)
April Mara Barton, Duquesne University School of Law (PDF)
Leonard M. Baynes, University of Houston Law Center
Theresa Beiner, University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law (PDF)
Patricia Bennett, Mississippi College School of Law
Jessica Berg & Michael P. Scharf, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Luke Bierman, Elon University School of Law (PDF)
Richard A. Bierschbach, Wayne State University Law School
Mary Lu Bilek, City University of New York School of Law
Mary Anne Bobinski, Emory University School of Law (PDF)
Craig M. Boise, Syracuse University College of Law (PDF)
Kathleen M. Boozang, Deborah R. Edwards, and Fr. Nicholas Gengaro, Seton Hall University School of Law (PDF)
Christopher A. Bracey, The George Washington University Law School (PDF)
Mark E. Brandon, The University of Alabama School of Law (PDF)
Karen E. Bravo, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Martin H. Brinkley, University of North Carolina School of Law
Joan R. M. Bullock, Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (PDF)
Marcilynn A. Burke, University of Oregon School of Law
Henry N. Butler, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
Michael T. Cahill, Brooklyn Law School
Paul Caron, Pepperdine University School of Law
Megan Carpenter, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (PDF)
Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California Berkeley School of Law (PDF)
Eric C. Christiansen, Golden Gate University School of Law (PDF)
Annette Clark, Seattle University School of Law
Marcus Cole, University of Notre Dame, The Law School
Jennifer M. Collins, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law
Danielle M. Conway, The Pennsylvania State University- Dickinson Law
Cathy Cox, Sarah Gerwig-Moore, and Alyssa Leffall, Mercer University School of Law (PDF)
Colin Crawford, University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law (PDF)
Phyllis L. Crocker, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (PDF)
Anthony Crowell, New York Law School
Larry Cunningham and Andy Abrams, Charleston School of Law (PDF)
Judith Daar, Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law (PDF)
Lincoln Davies (with staff and administrators), The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law (PDF)
Mary J. Davis, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law (PDF)
Mary Davis (with faculty), University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, Open Letter to Students Past, Present & Future (PDF)
Leticia M. Diaz, Barry University School of Law
Darby Dickerson, UIC John Marshall Law School
Matthew Diller, Fordham University School of Law
Matthew Diller, Fordham University School of Law, Paths Forward to Address Structural Racism
Matthew Diller, Fordham University School of Law, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts
Matthew Diller, Fordham University School of Law, Reflection on Derek Chauvin Verdict
Davison M. Douglas, William & Mary Law School
Susan H. Duncan, University of Mississippi School of Law (PDF)
Allen K. Easley, Western State College of Law at Westcliff University (PDF)
Lyn Suzanne Entzeroth, University of Tulsa College of Law (PDF)
David L. Faigman, University of California Hastings College of Law (PDF)
Ward Farnsworth, University of Texas School of Law
Stephen Ferruolo, University of San Diego School of Law (PDF)
Joshua P. Fershée, Creighton University School of Law (PDF)
Daniel M. Filler, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law (PDF)
Barbara Glesner Fines, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
Lee Fisher, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University
Lee Fisher, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, Call to Action
Timothy Fisher, University of Connecticut School of Law (PDF)
Susan Freiwald, University of San Francisco School of Law (PDF)
Neil Fulton, University of South Dakota School of Law (PDF)
Brian Gallini, Willamette University College of Law (PDF)
Jace C. Gatewood, Atlanta’s John Marshall School of Law
Heather K. Gerken, Yale Law School (PDF)
Risa Goluboff, University of Virginia School of Law
C. Peter Goplerud, Florida Coastal School of Law (PDF)
Chris Guthrie, Vanderbilt University School of Law
Andrew T. Guzman, University of Southern California Gould School of Law (PDF)
Katheleen R. Guzman, University of Oklahoma College of Law (PDF)
James Hackney, Northeastern University School of Law
Daniel W. Hamilton and Sebastian Ross, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law (PDF)
Anna M. Han, Santa Clara University School of Law
Brant Hellwig, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Danielle Holley-Walker, Howard University School of Law (PDF)
Renée McDonald Hutchins, The University of the District of Columbia School of Law (PDF)
Rachel M. Janutis, Capital University Law School (PDF)
Melanie B. Jacobs, Michigan State University College of Law (PDF)
Garry W. Jenkins, University of Minnesota Law School, George Floyd and the Fight for Justice
Garry W. Jenkins, University of Minnesota Law School, On the Death of Minneapolis Resident George Floyd
Christian A. Johnson, Widener University Commonwealth Law School (PDF)
Jennifer J. Johnson, Lewis and Clark Law School (PDF)
Kevin R. Johnson, University of California, Davis, School of Law
William P. Johnson, Saint Louis University School of Law (PDF)
William P. Johnson, Saint Louis University School of Law, Call to Action (PDF)
Michael Kaufman, Loyola University School of Law, Chicago
Joseph D. Kearney, Marquette University Law School (PDF)
Latonia Haney Keith, Concordia University School of Law (PDF)
Andrew Klein and Karen Bravo, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Peter Knapp, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Anita K. Krug, Chicago-Kent College of Law
Madeleine M. Landrieu, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Elena B. Langan, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center (PDF)
Tamara F. Lawson, St. Thomas University School of Law (PDF)
J. Rich Leonard, Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (PDF)
Melanie Leslie, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
Gillian Lester, Columbia Law School
Browne C. Lewis, North Carolina Central University School of Law (PDF)
Lyrissa Lidsky, University of Missouri School of Law (PDF)
Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge, Louisiana State University, Paul M. Herbert Law Center (PDF)
Jerrold Long, University of Idaho College of Law (PDF)
Gregory N. Mandel, Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law (PDF)
John Manning, Harvard Law School, Message of Support (PDF)
John Manning, Harvard Law School, Standing Together at HLS (PDF)
Stephen W. Mazza, University of Kansas School of Law (PDF)
Margaret Sova McCabe, University of Arkansas School of Law (PDF)
Justice (ret.) Elizabeth A. McClanahan (with school leadership), Appalachian School of Law (PDF)
Michael McGinniss, University of North Dakota School of law
James McGrath, Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Tom McHenry, Vermont Law School
David D. Meyer, Tulane University Law School
Thomas J. Miles, University of Chicago, The Law School
Marc Miller, University of Arizona James E. Roger College of Law
Eric J. Mitnick, University of Massachusetts School of Law- Dartmouth (PDF)
Jennifer L. Mnookin, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
Richard E. Moberly, University of Nebraska College of Law
Trevor Morrison, New York University School of Law
Kim Mutcherson, Rutgers Law School (PDF)
Jack Wade Nowlin, Texas Tech University School of Law
Camille Nelson, American University, Washington College of Law
Vivian I. Neptune, University of Puerto Rico School of Law (PDF)
Erin O’Connor, Florida State University College of Law (PDF)
Elaine O’Neal, North Carolina Central University School of Law
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Boston University School of Law
Hari Osofsky, Pennsylvania State University- Penn State Law, BLSA Statement (PDF)
Hari Osofsky, Pennsylvania State University- Penn State Law, Concrete Action Steps (PDF)
Hari Osofsky, Pennsylvania State University- Penn State Law, Message of Support (PDF)
Alicia Ouellette, Albany Law School
Antony Page, Florida International University College of Law
Matt Parlow, Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law (PDF)
Austen Parrish, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Stephen C. Payne, Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
Eduardo M. Peñalver, Cornell Law School
Sergio Pareja, University of New Mexico School of Law (PDF)
Wendy Perdue, University of Richmond School of Law (PDF)
Andrew M. Perlman, Suffolk University Law School, To Faculty (PDF)
Andrew M. Perlman, Suffolk University Law School, To Students on Juneteenth (PDF)
Nicky Boothe Perry and Deirdre’ Keller, Florida A&M University College of Law, Black people have been struggling to breathe for centuries (in the Florida Courier)
Nicky Boothe Perry and Deirdre’ Keller, Florida A&M University College of Law,
Healing racial divide starts now (in the Orlando Sentinel)
Christopher J. (C.J.) Peters, The University of Akron School of Law (PDF)
John K. Pierre, Southern University Law Center
Susan Westerberg Prager, Southwestern Law School (PDF)
Carla D. Pratt, Washburn University School of Law
Gail Prudenti, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (PDF)
Margaret Raymond, University of Wisconsin Law School
L. Song Richardson, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Laurel Rigertas, Northern Illinois University College of Law (PDF)
Patricia Roberts, St. Mary’s University School of Law
Jacob H. Rooksby, Gonzaga University School of Law (PDF)
Charles H. Rose III, Ohio Northern University, Pettit College of Law
Laura Ann Rosenbury, University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Jim Roth, Oklahoma City University School of Law (PDF)
Vincent Rougeau, Boston College Law School
Jennifer Rosato, DePaul University College of Law (PDF)
Ted Ruger, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Ted Ruger, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Continuing Opportunities for Community
Peter B. Rutledge and Gregory L. Roseboro, University of Georgia School of Law (PDF)
Leigh Saufley, University of Maine School of Law
Brad Saxton, Quinnipiac University School of Law (PDF)
Katharine Traylor Schaffzin, The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law (PDF)
Niels Schaumann, California Western School of Law (PDF)
Michael Hunter Schwartz, University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Sudha Setty, Western New England University School of Law (PDF)
Michael A. Simons, St. John’s University School of Law
Bruce P. Smith, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law
Gordon Smith, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School
Rodney Smolla, Widener University Delaware Law School (PDF)
Avi Soifer, University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law (PDF)
Nancy Staudt, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (PDF)
Andrew L. Strauss, University of Dayton School of Law (PDF)
Henry C. (Corky) Strickland, Samford University Cumberland School of Law
Douglas Sylvester, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
John Taylor, West Virginia University College of Law (PDF)
Brad Toben, Baylor University Law School (PDF)
Donald B. Tobin, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
William M. Treanor, Georgetown University Law Center (PDF)
Anthony E. Varona, University of Miami School of Law
Robert Vischer, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Debra Moss Vollweiler, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law (PDF)
Elizabeth Kronk Warner (with staff and administrators), University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law
Kevin K. Washburn, University of Iowa College of Law
Michael Waterstone, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Ronald Weich, University of Baltimore School of Law
Mark D. West, University of Michigan Law School
Amy J. Wildermuth, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Rob Wilcox, University of South Carolina School of Law
Verna L. Williams, University of Cincinnati College of Law
Melanie Wilson and Douglas Blaze, University of Tennessee College of Law
Leslie E. Wolf, Georgia State University College of Law (PDF)
Michael J. Yelnosky, Roger Williams University School of Law (PDF)
Kimberly A. Yuracko (with Shannon P. Bartlett), Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Kimberly A. Yuracko, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law , Commitment to Anti-Racism
Joint Statement from the Deans of Texas Law Schools (PDF)

Law school statements will be added to the page on a regular basis. Please contact AALS Media to submit your school’s statement or provide any edits or corrections.

In conclusion, this is a webpage that will transform with every additional resource, statement of solidarity, and active engagement with Antiracist principles.

The curators,

Deans Danielle M. Conway, Danielle Holley-Walker, Kimberly Mutcherson, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, and Carla D. Pratt