University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law DEI Update

Aug 29, 2022 | Alumni

Dear SJQ Community:

One of our top goals is to create an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible (IDEA) community at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. As part of that commitment, I am writing to update you on our progress over the 2021-2022 academic year. This is an annual commitment to report back on how we are meeting the goals adopted in November 2020. Despite the challenges we faced during the 2021-2022 academic year, we were able to make progress on these goals. Below is a summary of what we accomplished this past year.

  • SJQ hosted Dr. Nina Feng in August 2022 to lead a conversation about recognizing and overcoming bias in our classrooms and other student interactions. Dr. Feng offered tangible ways that faculty could incorporate an EDI framework into our instructional pedagogy.
  • Also in August 2022, SJQ hosted Ms. Emma Houston, the University’s assistant vice president for EDI and chief diversity officer, to engage our incoming 1L class in a training to 1) confront bias, 2) increase cross-cultural competency, 3) recognize areas of ongoing racism, and 4) provide tools to our students for growth in these three areas.
  • In April 2022, one of our first year law students partnered with the Black Cultural Center and SJQ to host the first annual Black Law Day. This event brought prospective law students together with campus resources and local lawyers to discuss admissions, support and navigating law school.
  • SJQ is currently working with the Graduate School Diversity Office to plan events similar to Black Law Day with other affinity groups (e.g., PISA, MEChA, AASA, AIRC, LGBT Resource Center, etc.).
  • In December 2021, a new EDI program manager role was created within the College of Law. This individual serves as an advocate and resource on diversity, cultural awareness, equity, and inclusion for the College. This position leads the development and implementation of proactive EDI initiatives within the College to support and create a learning and working environment where all can succeed.
  • Our EDI program manager attended the fifteenth annual Meeting of Law School Diversity Professionals.
  • The assistant dean for student affairs and EDI serves as one of several campus leaders on the EDI Strategy Council for the University. The EDI Strategy Council is charged with centering and implementing equity processes, practices, and behaviors within their respective units. Relatedly, the College of Law is represented on the EDI Strategy Council Working Groups (Amplifying Community Engagement), with the goal of joining two additional working groups (Ensuring Belonging, Fostering an Inclusive Climate) in the 2022 – 23 academic year. Dean Kronk Warner is also serving on the University’s Native American Heritage Month planning committee.
  • In consultation with the University’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, SJQ is preparing to launch an EDI-focused self-study. This self-study will identify organizational inequities and will provide a starting point to align our college-level goals with the University’s EDI strategic pillars of “fostering an inclusive climate,” “securing health equity,” “amplifying community engagement,” and “ensuring belonging for all.
  • In May 2022, SJQ hosted an anti-racism conference for law school deans. Roughly 30 law school deans from around the country spent two days at the College of Law having valuable conversations related to EDI and anti-racism. The conference was co-hosted by the Law School Admissions Council.
  • The college is partnering with campus-wide EDI efforts, including by hosting BIPOC Graduate Student Social events in fall 2022, for all graduate and professional students of color, and by co-sponsoring and hosting the first annual Graduate School Preview Day, which was designed for students from marginalized communities in Utah and across the country.
  • Our faculty remain committed to accomplishing our stated EDI and anti-racism goals as evidenced by the following:
    • Two new faculty members who identify as racialized minorities started at SJQ in the summer of 2022.
    • During the 2021-22 academic year, we revised our adjunct faculty recruitment method, which has already yielded a more diverse pool of potential adjuncts. Many of these diverse adjunct candidates have been hired.
    • Many SJQ faculty members continue to publish and research in the area of EDI and anti-racism. Some of their publications from the 2021-22 academic year include:
      • Antony Anghie, Introduction to the Symposium on the Impact of Indigenous Peoples on International Law, 115 AJIL Unbound 116 (2021).
      • Teneille Brown, Stereotypes, Sexism, and Superhuman Faculty, 16 FIU L. Rev. 83 (2021-2022).
      • Teneille Brown, The Content of Our Character, 126 Penn St. L. Rev. 1 (2021).
      • Teneille Brown and Leslie P. Francis, Should We Discriminate among Discriminations?, 14 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol’y 359 (2021) (with Jim Tabery).
      • Timothy W Farrell, Lauren E Ferrante, Teneille Brown, Leslie Francis, Eric Widera, Ramona Rhodes, Tony Rosen, Ula Hwang, Leah J Witt, Niranjan Thothala, Shan W Liu, Caroline A Vitale, Ursula K Braun, Caroline Stephens, Debra Saliba, AGS Position Statement: Resource Allocation Strategies and Age‐Related Considerations in the COVID‐19 Era and Beyond, Am. Geriatrics Soc 68(6) (2020).
      • Leslie Francis, Forms of Equality, Faces of Discrimination: CRPD Article 5, Article 12, and the Disability’s Difference Debate, Disability Law and Human Rights (2022).
      • Leslie Francis, Supported Decision-Making: The CRPD, Non-Discrimination, and Strategies for Recognizing Persons’ Choices About their Good, 1 The Journal of Philosophy of Disability 57 (2021).
      • Leslie Francis, On (Not) Deserving Disadvantage: What Kind of Difference Does “Disability” Make?, Defining the Boundaries of Disability (2021).
      • Laura Kessler, Addressing Sexual Misconduct in the United States Military: An Organizational Approach, 94 Temple Law Review 175 (2022).
      • Laura Kessler, Miscarriage of Justice: Early Pregnancy Loss and the Limits of US Employment Law, 108 Cornell Law Review __(2022).
      • Laura Kessler, Achieving Equality Without a Constitution: Lessons from Israel for Queer Family Law, (Nausica Palazzo & Jeffrey A. Redding eds., Anthem Press) (forthcoming 2022).
      • Clifford Rosky, Don’t Say Gay: Government Silence and the Equal Protection Clause, __ Illinois L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2022).
      • Alexander Skibine, The Tribal Right to Exclude Others from Indian-Owned Lands, 45 Am. Indian L. Rev. 261 (2020-2021).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Laboratories of the Future: Tribes and Rights of Nature, California Law Review (forthcoming 2023) (with Jensen Lillquist).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner, The Precipice of Justice: Equity, Energy, and the Environment in Indian Country and Rural Communities, 42 Energy Law Journal 281 (2021) (with Ann M. Eisenberg).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Heather Tanana, Indian Country Post-McGirt: Implications for Traditional Energy Development and Beyond, 45 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev 249 (2021).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Robert W. Adler, Making America a Better Place for all: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration, 51 Envtl. L. Rep. 10310 (2021) (with John C. Dernbach, Scott E. Schang, Karol Boudreaux, John Bouman, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Kimberly Brown, Mikhail Chester, Michael B. Gerrard, Stephen Herzenberg, Samuel Markolf, Corey Malone-Smolla, Jane Nelson, Uma Outka, Tony Pipa, Alexandra Phelan, LeRoy Paddock, Jonathan D. Rosenbloom, William Snape, American, Anastasia Telesetsky, Gerald Torres, Audra Wilson).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Living in Two Worlds, published in the symposium edition, Taking Our Space: Women of Color and Antiracism in the Legal Academy, 73 Rutgers L. Rev. 933 (2021).
      • Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Talking While Invisible, Dead, published in the symposium edition, Ruth Bader Ginsberg Lecture, 44 Thomas Jefferson L. Rev. 24 (2021).
    • In addition to research and publishing in this space, our faculty have also taken the time to present on these important topics. Some of the presentations faculty gave related to EDI and anti-racism include:
      • Laura Kessler, Achieving Equality Without A Constitution: Lessons From Israel for Queer Family Law, NOVA School of Law – Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, July 2022 (Book Launch for QUEER AND RELIGIOUS ALLIANCES IN FAMILY LAW POLITICS AND BEYOND (Nausica Palazzo & Jeffrey A. Redding eds., 2022).
      • Heather Tanana and Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Law & Society Association Global Meeting, Securing Indigenous Futures, July 16, 2022.
      • Heather Tanana, 16th Annual Governor’s Native American Summit, Hearing the Voices of Native Mothers, July 28, 2022.
      • Teneille Brown, Fudging Foresight—How Governments Ignored Public Mental Health During the Pandemic, International Association of Law and Mental Health Conference, July 5, 2022.
      • Leslie Francis, Alternatives to Guardianship, Southern Utah Bar Association.
      • Louisa Heiny and Catherine Bramble, Supervised Practice Pathway to Bar Licensure, Building a Better Legal Profession: Pathways to Bar Licensure Conference, Mitchell Hamline School of Law (April 2022).
      • Heather Tanana, Northeastern Law, Annual Health Law conference, Climate Change: Challenges for Health, Equity, and the Law, April 14, 2022.
      • Heather Tanana, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL) Water Symposium, “Systemic Inequities and its impacts on Vulnerable Populations and the Environment,” April 27, 2022.
      • Heather Tanana, University of Utah, Symposium for Underserved, Rural, and Global Health Education, “Culturally Informed Care: Addressing Native American Women’s Health Issues” (moderator) April 29, 2022.
      • Leslie Francis, Utah State Bar Elder Law section, “Guardianship 101.”
      • Christopher Peterson, Presenter, Delivering Bipartisan Results on Protecting the Personal Finances of Military Veterans, Build America Better Program: Utah, The White House, Washington, D.C. March 15 2022 (virtual panel discussion).
      • Heather Tanana, Lewis & Clark Law School, Water (In)Security in Tribal Communities, March 29, 2022.
      • Heather Tanana, Organization of American Historians, 2022 Annual Conference, Historicizing COVID-19 in Navajo Nation (panelist), March 31, 2022.
      • RonNell Andersen Jones, “Saving Local News,” Conference on Race, Racism, and American Media, co-hosted by Georgetown Law Center and University of Houston Law Center, Feb. 25, 2022.
      • Heather Tanana, ABA, Intersection of Tribal Rights with Environmental, Energy, and Resource Development Conference, How Tribes are Leading the Way in Responding to Climate Change, conference planning committee and session moderator (February 15, 2022).
      • Clifford Rosky, Interim Hearing of Health and Human Services Committee on Transgender Participation in School Sports, Nov. 17, 2021.
      • Clifford Rosky, (Mis)conceiving Bodies: Medical Models of Disability and the ADA, University of Chicago Law Forum (Nov. 5).
      • Heather Tanana, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney COL, Part II: The Legal Realities of Native Americans in Utah and How You Can Help (October 22, 2021).
      • Leslie Culver, Yale Law School: Conducted virtual cultural awareness and identity performance facilitated workshops during 1L Orientation with collective focus on invisible norms and biases in the legal profession, and exploring ethnic identity, differences, and law school as a medium for cultural awareness and empowerment through conscious identity performance. (Aug. 9-10).
      • Leslie Culver, Conducted virtual professionalism and leadership training for upper-level student organization leaders, with focus on promoting dialogue, modeling difficult/cross-cultural dialogues and building community. (Aug. 16).
      • Leslie Culver, University of Georgia-Athens (UGA) – Conducted in-person dialogue on cultural awareness and identity performance as a part of law school’s broader professional identity segment for the 2021 incoming 1L orientation (Aug. 13).
    • Finally, our SJQ faculty continue to teach classes that focus on or incorporate EDI and anti-racism themes. Examples of these classes include: Mindful Lawyering, Creative Advocacy Lab, Crimmigration, Federal Indian Law, Feminist Legal Theory, Identity Power and Professional Responsibility, Constitutional Law II and Poverty Law.
  • Our wonderful and varied student groups regularly hosted events related to these themes of EDI and anti-racism.
  • Our events team continues to utilize diverse vendors whenever possible.
  • Our Pro Bono Initiative (PBI) continues to provide brief legal advice to numerous individuals who identify as being diverse in some way. For example, PBI hosts multiple community immigration sites, an expungement and justice site, a rainbow law site, and a street law site. PBI is also looking into partnering with local jails and prisons to provide services.
  • The development team worked to obtain scholarships to support diverse students. Specifically, the Arc to Justice Program (named after the quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that is on the wall of our moot court room) was designed to provide full tuition support for diverse students who have overcome significant obstacles. So far, six local law firms have provided financial support for these opportunities. The firm sponsors are Kirton McConkie and Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar. The firm supporters are Greenberg Traurig, Parsons Behle & Latimer, Snell & Wilmer, and Strong & Hanni.
  • Our admissions department is working hard to recruit and matriculate diverse students. For the J.D. class recruited during the 2021-22 academic year (Class of 2025), 53% of the class identifies as female, 15% are first generation college students, 15% identify as racialized minorities and 14% identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. In comparison, the MLS classes tend to have a larger percentage of students identifying as racialized minorities and women. Overall, while there is certainly work to be done in this space, the percentages are trending in an upward direction. As part of their recruitment efforts, members of the admissions department participated in drafting and then submitted a grant request to create a pipeline program with the Blanding campus of Utah State University, which has a student body that 70% Native. Additionally, the proposed Memorandum of Understanding with the Navajo Nation is still pending with the Nation.
  • The Faust Law librarians continue to advance this work as well. When purchasing new books to add to the collection, the librarians look for EDI and anti-racism titles to add to the collection. They have also developed library guides related to this area. Additionally, several librarians have worked to make resources generally available to all.
  • Our educational technology team worked to ensure that all of our online materials are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
  • In the college’s communications and marketing efforts, we have focused on further centering the voices of students, faculty and alumni from diverse communities, identities and backgrounds, as well as spotlighting those in our community who are advancing equity, diversity, inclusion and access to justice through their work.
  • The college is providing technical and editorial support to a student-led effort by the Minority Law Caucus to produce a podcast that explores the experiences of diverse students applying to and attending law school.
  • Several of our faculty members contributed their expertise and thought leadership to media coverage of DEI-related issues, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling and its implications for equity and inclusion of historically marginalized identities and communities.

 

Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner


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