September 13, 2016

Southwestern Recognized for Diversity by ABA Law Students Division

Southwestern has won the 2016 Dean Henry J. Ramsey Jr. Diversity Award from the American Bar Association’s Law Students Division. In August, new SBA President Lauren Delvaux-Tochner attended the 2016 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco where the award was presented to Southwestern.

Former SBA President Erica Steinberg made sure that Southwestern successfully applied for consideration of the award during the previous spring semester. “Receiving this honor is special to the Southwestern community, which is made up of many diverse individuals who collectively make our school great,” Steinberg said. “Without our diversity, Southwestern would not be the same.”

Tiara Simmons described some of the outreach efforts that LLSA spearheaded, including hosting its first career panel of new attorneys and LLSA members at a Boys and Girls Club. “On a local level, the career panel allowed young students to see that there are people who look and sound just like they do, who work in a field that in the past did not fully represent their own cultures,” Simmons said. “The program served to increase not only interest in the legal field, but to help students become more aware of the opportunities that are out there for them.”

Tamia Thomas of BLSA provided background on the organization’s 2016 Black History Month Program, which was the first of its kind at Southwestern. “Southwestern’s faculty, staff, students and alumni participated in the month-long events and have publicly praised the BLSA organization for their outstanding work,” Thomas said. “We consistently had a plethora of students at each event, gaining support from all diverse student groups including OUTLaw, Jewish Student Law Association, Armenian Law Student Association, Asian-Pacific American Law Association, and many others.”

The ABA Law Student Division’s Diversity Award serves as a testament to Dean Henry J. Ramsey, Jr. of Howard University for his lifetime commitment to issues of inclusiveness and his efforts to increase the quality of the practice and study of law. The Diversity Award recognizes excellence in activities that have contributed toward the achievement and advancement of women, minorities, persons with disabilities in the profession and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.