Data collection and reporting challenges too often “erase” people and betray our values. We have to do better in order to make change real.
By Kristin Theis-Alvarez
By Kristin Theis-Alvarez
Access and Opportunity
Carlos Cedillo-Silva saw a legal education as a far-fetched dream, but a summer in the PLUS Program turned his burden into a reality.
Ryan Odibo says he feels a lot of different pressures to be successful in life and his career. Now a junior at Virginia Tech, Odibo is aiming to be the first in his family to graduate from college.
There are many ways to make an impact in law, but one we don’t often hear much about is how people become judges and justices. During a recent LSAC webinar, I was joined by two women who took unique paths in law and are now breaking barriers as members of the judiciary, along with a third pathbreaker who now works to help law school candidates make their own successful transitions to the legal profession.
Keni Anthony says she’s always wanted to attend a historically Black university. “Ever since I was little, watching my auntie walk across the stage at Savannah State, I knew from that age that that would be me,” she says.
Amena Kheshtchin-Kamel has always been good at telling stories. As a first-generation American, she says she was always drawn to “expressing my voice, and also helping others find their voices.” That was part of what led her to pursue a legal education, and while the kind of storytelling she’s doing now might surprise you, it’s a reminder that a law degree can open doors just about anywhere.
Starr Gibens, a third-year student at North Carolina State University, was interested in a legal education before she attended an online Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program. After attending, though, she had no doubt law was in her future.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and this year’s observance of this important event is particularly special: It’s the 75th such observance, and it coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. At LSAC, we’re committed to helping people from all backgrounds, including those with disabilities, pursue their dreams of legal education and add their diverse voices to our justice system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted higher education in an unprecedented way, and one aspect of that disruption is that LGBTQIA+ law students, who already face unique challenges on their path to a career in law, are now finding it harder to connect with other members of their community. How can we reimagine the idea of “community” during this time of upheaval and health concerns?
On a recent installment of the Law School Admission Council’s Justice Hour, a series of webinars focusing on advancing equity and inclusion in the legal profession, we were honored to host Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Dean Chemerinsky — a national expert on issues of constitutional law, federal practice, appellate litigation, civil rights and civil liberties, and criminal procedure — joined us to discuss two recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that affect legal education and important aspects of Americans’ lives.