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A Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity
Posted January 15th, 2008
Despite the rise in the number of available seats in American law schools, up nearly 4,000 seats in the last fifteen years, African American and Mexican American enrollment has decreased at an alarming rate. Overall these applicants are showing better conventional stats--LSAT scores and college grade point averages--yet they are vanishing from law schools. That translates into fewer attorneys of color in America's future. This means a less diverse bench and bar.
This analysis, based on Law School Admission Council data, is now available on the website "A Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity," created by Columbia Law School's Lawyering for the Digital Age Clinic in collaboration with SALT. The site was created by SALT member, and former SALT board member, Conrad Johnson, Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School who is recognized nationally as a leader in innovative legal education, access to justice and technology.
"The statistics help people focus on the numbers, not on ideology. Nowhere else on the Web are these statistics pulled together in such depth," Professor Johnson said. The site includes 12 graphs and nearly 200 data points based on Law School Admission Council statistics for each year.
SALT is concerned about the declining numbers of African American and Mexican American law students because a less diverse pool of lawyers and judges to serve the public diminishes faith in the administration of justice and a less productive, creative workforce. In addition, a diverse classroom experience helps to teach students about the world beyond their own lives and to work with people very different from themselves.
The site contains analysis of the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision that reaffirmed the limited use of affirmative action in university and law school admissions and other resources that educators and the legal profession can use to improve the accessibility of legal education.
SALT thanks Professor Conrad Johnson for his leadership in bringing this website to the public.
April 8, 2008 UPDATE: Professor Conrad Johnson of Columbia Law School, creator of the website "Disturbing Trend in Law School Admissions," is featured in the April 7, 2008 issue of Hispanic Outlook. He is also featured in the March 2008 issue of The National Jurist, Disappearing Act.
February 8, 2008 UPDATE: Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) placed into the Congressional Record remarks and references to the "Disturbing Trends in Law School Diversity" during debate on HR 4137, amending the Higher Education Act.
The National Law Journal, dated January 4, 2008.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, dated January 4, 2008.
ABA Journal Law News Now, dated January 17, 2008
S.D. Watch & Epp Law Report, January 21, 2008.