preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 34)

For example, the school has added a course on race in the law, and Lopez teaches a class on the rights of non-citizens and aliens. “[Students] all tell me it’s the first time they get to talk about these things,” Lopez said. “It makes it more comfortable for them.” Some of the courses were added in response to minority students’ requests for more diversity in the curriculum, Lopez said. The law school has also strived to send a message of inclusion, said Lopez. For example, flags hang in the school’s atrium to represent every country of origin among the school’s law students. Pictures of diverse judges and other great legal minds, such as Thurgood Marshall, are also hung in the atrium. But across the board, law schools need to do more to increase minority representation, Lopez said. “The legal profession is changing…but I don’t think we can be complacent and say ‘they’re in the classroom; they’ve arrived,’” she said. When you think of diversity at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, it ranges across everything from age to gender to ethnicity for the Lansing, Mich.-based legal institution. The sizable law school started as a way for people who wanted a law degree to complete most of their schooling at night, said Cooley’s president and dean, Don LeDuc. The school also created a part-time program that allowed participants to finish in three years, something unheard of at the time. As a result, two sometimes under-represented groups were able to attend law school for the first time: working professionals and people with family commitments, particularly women, LeDuc said. The school also introduced a weekend program, and all three attract people with a wide breadth of real-life working experiences. LeDuc noted that Cooley also has one of the more liberal admissions policies when it comes to test scores. The law school lets a wider net of people into the school and then helps them thrive when they are attending class. This has brought Cooley substantial minority enrollment over the years. To that end, Cooley is second in the nation when it comes to minority enrollment, according to the American Bar Association. It is first for African-American student enrollment, fifth for Asian enrollment and sixth in terms of students with Spanish heritage, LeDuc said. Success in early education The scope of the disappearing minority participation in law school and in the profession is garnering the attention of everyone involved. Even going back to our earliest formal education years — elementary school. As most experts have realized, reaching kids at an early age will only increase minority enrollment and success in law school and in the profession. Many experts have tried to identify Business Pharmacy Family Therapy Oceanography Criminal Justice Allied Health & Nursing Biomedical Sciences Medicine Law Education Dentistry Optometry Psychology Arts & Sciences Early Childhood Studies Computer Sciences A powerful case for a law degree from NSU. Nova Southeastern University has always been an academic pioneer, but we’ve also earned a powerful reputation for blazing new trails in technology. In fact, NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center was twice named the Most Wired Law School in the United States by the National Jurist magazine. Combined with renowned teacher/scholars, innovative teaching methods, a 21st-century curriculum with dual degree programs and extensive clinical experience, NSU offers a highly-engaging, real-world legal education. Case closed. YOUR FUTURE. YOUR TERMS. www.nova.edu/law Shepard Broad Law Center Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (Main Campus) 800-986-6529 Notices of nondiscrimination, membership, and accreditation: The Law Center admits students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, age, color, non-disqualifying disability, marital status, religion or creed, or national or ethnic origin. Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center is a member of the Association of American Law Schools and is accredited by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association (321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610-4714, Telephone number: 312-988-6738). 34 preLaw http://www.nova.edu/law http://www.nova.edu/law

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008

preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents From the Editor For the Record Large Gender Gap Remains Among Political Hopefuls Man Charged in LSAT Scam Barry Dean Recognized New Report Examines Legal Ed Drexel Receives Accredidation New Mexico No. 1 for Hispanics A Film Journey in Law A Law Student at Last Debt Salvation Great Law Schools for Minorities Grad Opts Out of Big Firm Job Specialties Helpful Advice

preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008

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