National honor recognizes Prof. Gabriel’s contribution to Integrating Doctrine & Diversity: Beyond the First Year, the second in a landmark series advancing diversity and inclusion in legal education.
CUNY School of Law congratulates Professor Raquel J. Gabriel, Director of the Law Library, on receiving the 2025 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Gabriel was recognized for her role as co-editor of Integrating Doctrine & Diversity: Beyond the First Year, a national resource for legal educators seeking to embed equity, inclusion, and critical perspectives into upper-level courses.
This marks the first time a CUNY Law faculty member has received the Andrews Award, one of the highest honors in legal literature and law librarianship. Gabriel shares the award with co-editors Nicole Paccione Dyszlewski (Roger Williams School of Law), Suzanne Harrington-Steppen ’05 (Roger Williams School of Law), Anna Russell (Cornell Law School) and Genevieve B. Tung (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School), along with over 40 contributing authors nationwide.
“This recognition from the American Association of Law Libraries affirms Professor Gabriel’s national leadership in transforming legal education,” said Dean Sudha Setty. “This volume—and the broader series—offers law faculty essential tools to critically engage race, power, and systemic inequality across the curriculum. At CUNY Law, this work reflects more than pedagogy; it’s part of our core mission to expand access to the profession and ensure that the law serves those historically excluded from both its practice and protection.”
Published in 2024, Beyond the First Year builds on the 2021 volume co-edited by the same editorial team, Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion and Equity in the Law School Classroom, which featured contributions and chapters from several CUNY Law faculty members focusing on the first-year curriculum. The new volume expands that work to include core bar exam subjects such as administrative law, evidence, and other upper-level courses.
CUNY Law contributors to the project include Professor Natalie M. Chin, Director of the Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic, and Library Associate Professor Malikah Hall-Retteen. Hall-Retteen contributed to both volumes, further demonstrating the deep engagement of the Law School’s library faculty in advancing inclusive legal education.
Harrington-Steppen, a former student of Gabriel’s, also served as a co-editor, bringing the project full circle within the CUNY Law community.
“I’m deeply grateful to the editorial team who collaborated with me on the Integrating Doctrine and Diversity volumes, and especially thankful for the support I received from CUNY School of Law—particularly Dean Sudha Setty and the incredible library faculty and staff,” said Professor Gabriel. “At CUNY Law, we’ve always valued a strong teaching culture grounded in the diversity of our faculty and student body. By drawing from our own experiences, we help students engage more fully and prepare for the realities of legal practice. I’m thrilled that more voices in legal education are embracing diversity as essential to developing better lawyers.”
AALL President Cornell H. Winston praised the winning works as “thoughtful, practical, and lasting contributions in the field of law librarianship.”
Professor Gabriel’s recognition not only celebrates a major scholarly achievement—it affirms CUNY Law’s longstanding leadership in training legal educators and advocates to center justice in both form and substance.