CUNY School of Law has been named #1 in Diversity by preLaw magazine’s winter 2023 issue.
The Law School and its leaders feature prominently in the accompanying feature (p. 24-). The magazine says its methodology is based on “how well each school matches with the U.S. average for each minority population,” using data from the American Bar Association as it has since 2013.
You can read the full article and see the rankings list in the digital edition.
Excerpts from the feature article
“Why is diversity in law schools so important? It’s because of the influence lawyers have on shaping the political and legal landscape of our society, says Nicole Smith Futrell, director of the Center for Diversity of the Legal Profession at CUNY School of Law. Lawyers have the power to make changes. They often play important roles in governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations as well as being elected or appointed to lawmaking bodies. ”
“’People are so much more than scores,’ said Degna Levister, associate dean and director of Pipeline to Justice at CUNY Law. ‘Our application review process is holistic and whole-person focused.’ Levister said it is often people’s personal experiences with injustice and how they have overcome obstacles that determine their ability to succeed in law school and on the bar exam.”
“‘Not only is CUNY Law an access school in terms of who students are but also in terms of how their lived experiences, backgrounds and dreams transform the practice of law and how we go out in the world and cultivate social justice leadership,’ said Sudha Setty, dean of the law school and the first woman of South Asian descent to run an ABA-approved school.”
“CUNY Law’s Pipeline to Justice is a 10-month pre-law program designed to prepare underrepresented students to study for a Juris doctorate. Students who begin the program in the fall and successfully complete it will enter CUNY’s regular law program as first-years the following August. Pipeline to Justice offers a second chance at admission for public-interest-focused students whose LSAT scores fall short. ‘I realized I am not the only person who has the drive and capability to get into law school but who was hindered by the weight that is put on doing well on standardized tests,’ said student Pauloma Martinez, who raised her LSAT score by 13 points following the Pipeline to Justice program.”