Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at WashULaw
Mission Statement
Fostering a diverse community of students, staff, and faculty from different backgrounds and walks of life is essential to WashULaw’s core mission: to train students to succeed in the modern legal profession and serve as a hub of influential research production.
To live up to that commitment, we strongly emphasize the value and importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion across all dimensions of our curriculum, administration, and institution as a whole.
A Message From Dean Russell K. Osgood
Achieving our mission statement requires more than teaching black-letter law. It requires an abiding emphasis on the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion as an integral commitment. Here are some concrete steps we have taken to successfully embody our mission statement:
- Attracting and assembling one of the most diverse student bodies and faculties in our school’s history. Women, for example, make up over 48% of our current student body, while people of color account for almost 25%.
- Mandating bias awareness and sexual harassment training to all in the law school community as part of our efforts to stamp out discrimination on basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, socioeconomic background, and more.
- Lending pro bono legal services to a variety of diverse community members in the St. Louis area and beyond, who would not otherwise have access to solid legal representation.
- Hosting diverse speakers from around the nation and world to share, present, and lecture at the law school.
- Establishing a robust offering of student groups, organizations, and resources specifically for diverse students. Please see an outline of these below, with links to their homepages.
- Directing students to the university’s bias reporting form, which may be used to report incidents of experienced or witnessed discriminatory behavior.
WashULaw also has a proud history of valuing diversity. When we opened our doors in 1867, we admitted the first two women in the nation to attend a chartered law school: Phoebe Couzins and Lemma Barkeloo. In 1886, we admitted our first African American student, Walter Moran Farmer.
However, our work from the past and present must strengthen and continue into the future. We are galvanized to continue. Please join us on this important journey.
Interim DEI officer appointed at WashULaw
Angela Smith, Director of Operations and Diversity in the Career Center at WashULaw, will serve as the law school’s Interim Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer to help improve cultural competency and racial justice within the law school.
Smith will work with the Office of Student Life, Career Center, and Office of Admissions to implement recommendations set for by the Task Force and provide insight on all diversity, equity and inclusion-related matters.
Smith has worked with the School of Law for nearly 25 years. We are deeply grateful for her many years of service!
University Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resources
- Law School Student Organizations
Click Here – for a list of law student organizations.
- University Initiatives
- Diversity Homepage at Washington University
- Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies
- MOSAIC Project at Washington University
- LGBTQIA Student Involvement and Leadership
- Office for International Students and Scholars
- Undergraduate Student Diversity Organizations
- Veterans and Military at Washington University
- National Law Student Organizations
- National Professional Resources
- ABA Diversity and Inclusion Center
- ABA’s Women in the Profession Group
- American Indian Law Center
- Black Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Association
- Hispanic National Bar Association
- International Bar Association
- J. Reuben Clark Law Society
- Latino Justice Organization
- Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
- National Bar Association
- National Lesbian and Gay Law Association
- Native American Bar Association
- Puerto Rican Bar Association
- LSAC Diversity Resources - LGBTQIA Applicants
LSAC has materials collected and available on its Diversity in Law School page for LGBTQIA applicants. This page includes a collection of videos featuring applicants and students sharing their experiences:
- Coming Out on Your Application
- Choosing an LGBTQIA Friendly Law School
- Being Out in Law School
- Being Transgender in Law School
- Being Out at Work
- LSAC Diversity Resources - Racial and Ethnic Minority Applicants
LSAC has materials collected and available on its Diversity in Law School for racial and ethnic minority applicants at DiscoverLaw.org.