Dear Provost Drell,
Law and law schools have always been tied up in our tragic and triumphant struggle for justice. From the founding of the republic, when slavery was embedded in the Constitution, U.S. law has sought compromise with racist ideologies. But, in the hands of social movements and visionary attorneys, law has also been a tool of liberation. Our Constitution sets the expectation that the law and the courts would be the voice of the minority. The quality of legal education helps determine the interests law students will serve, and who those students are. Elite law schools have a particular responsibility to challenge and improve society by ensuring law is a tool for justice. We are therefore writing as alumni of Stanford Law School to urge you to center anti-racist goals in your search for the next dean.
Under Dean Magill, and prompted by brave students, SLS began a serious conversation on race, including diversity and inclusion issues, and extending to larger questions of equity in the law. But a great deal of work remains to be done. An internal report on next steps has yet to be fully implemented, the school and faculty remain far less diverse than the society they serve, and the core realities of racism in American life and law are not integrated into the school’s curriculum and mission. You and the search committee now have a responsibility to make certain that the next dean is committed to this work. In particular, we ask that the search committee ensure the next dean:
– Is a person of color, for the first time ever.
– Is fully committed to an anti-racist vision, including fully implementing the school’s internal
report on next steps and actively continuing the conversation on how to do better.
– Is open to critically interrogating law’s long complicity with racism and white supremacy,
and is dedicated to ensuring Stanford lawyers serve justice, not entrenched privilege.
The search for the right person should be open and inclusive. The dean of Stanford Law School is an important national leader, so the search should reflect the school’s, and the nation’s, diverse and engaged community in a democratic way. This should include, at a bare minimum, including alumni and faculty of color on the search committee.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters further with you, and count on you to do the right thing.
Signed by 125 Stanford Law School graduates including,
Adam F. Lewis, 2017
Adam Podowitz-Thomas, 2011
Adelina Acuna, 2012
Alexandra Miller, 2014
Alvaro Soria, 2005
Amy Tannenbaum, 2017
Annick Jordan, 2017
Atenas Burrola, 2014
Bianca Sierra Wolff, 2004
Bolanle Olupona, 2009
Briane Cornish, 2014
Bryn Martyna, 2005
Carl D. Owens, Jr., 2012
Casey Raymond, 2014
Catherine Ruckelshaus, 1989
Chris McLamb, 2016
Christina Black, 2014
Christopher Ho, 1987
Christopher Lewis, 2017
Christy Gilbert Holstege, 2012
Cindy Liou, 2007
Cindy M. Garcia, 2016
Craig Segall, 2007
Dahlia Lithwick, 1996
Daniel B. Rojas, 2012
David Weiskopf, 2013
Denise Ballesteros, 2015
Emi Young, 2016
Eric Cohen, 1986
Eric Weitz, 2014
Esther Hong, 2007
Ethan Forrest, 2012
Eunice Cho, 2009
Ibrahim Elshamy, 2015
J. Robert García, 2012
James Shipe, 2007
Jarrell Cook, 2013
Jeff A Laretto, 2008
Jennifer Gonzalez, 2013
Jennifer Liu, 2008
Jennifer Williams, 2014
Jessica Dragonetti, 2015
Jessica Hubley, 2008
Jessica Snyder, 2013
Jessica Verran-Lingard, 2014
Joel Minor, 2014
Joelle Emerson, 2011
Jordana Siracusa, 2010
Juan Carlos Cancino, 2008
Julia B. Cherlow, 2012
Julia Rabinovich, 2012
Julie Wahlstrand, 2008
Karen Klein, 1987
Kate Fetrow, 2017
Katharine Blake McGowan, 2012
Katherine Hubbard, 2014
Kathleen Kim, 2002
Katrina Eiland, 2010
Kelli Newman, 2012
Kevin Lo, 2011
Kimi Narita, 2011
Laura Bixby, 2014
Lauren Zack, 2017
Leah Judge, 2014
Lila Miller, 2014
Lin Yee Chan, 2007
Lisa Ehrlich, 2009
Liz Morris, 2008
Maggie E Filler, 2012
Malaina Freedman, 2012
Mark Baller, 2008
Mark Feldman, 2014
Mary T. Hernandez, 1988
Matt Armsby, 2008
Matthew Fine, 2014
Matthew Stark Blumin, 2008
Maureen Keffer, 2011
Mavis Asiedu-Frimpong, 2013
Menaka Kalaskar, 2009
Meredith Firetog, 2014
Michael Avanti Lopez, 2006
Michelle Lamy, 2015
Michelle Lamy, 2015
Mikael Rojas, 2015
Min-Jae Lee, 2007
Nayna Gupta, 2013
Neesa Sethi, 2008
Neha Gupta, 2014
Neil K. Sawhney, 2014
Nichelle S. Carr, 2003
Nikki Marquez, 2015
Nisha Kashyap, 2014
Patti Chang, 1985
Perry Grossman, 2008
R. Omar Riojas, 2003
R. Orion Danjuma, 2010
Rose Leda Ehler, 2012
Ruth Barnes, 2007
Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, 2016
Sabrina Adler, 2008
Sabrina Forte, 2014
Salena G Copeland, 2007
Samantha Stonework-Hand, 2006
Scott Mollett, 2008
Shahid Buttar, 2003
Shira Morag Levine, 2012
Shubhra Shivpuri, 2008
Sierra Martinez, 2008
Sonia Valdez, 2010
Stacy Villalobos, 2015
Susan Bowyer, 1992
Swain Uber, 2016
Tamika L. Butler, 2009
Tiffany Yang, 2015
Tony Lai, 2011
Tori Ballif Gibbons, 2012
Tsion Lencho, 2012
Valerie Castelo, 2006
Vanessa del Valle, 201
3Vanessa Frank, 2003
Virginia Halden, 2016
Wilfred U. Codrington III, 2009
Yara Lomeli-Loibl, 2009
Zoe Palitz, 2010
Contact Liz Morris, involved with this letter at morrisliz ‘at’ uchastings.