Dear Fordham Law Community, 

We are in the thick of the spring semester, and I am excited to share the latest diversity, equity, and inclusion news, with a special focus on Black History Month and Women’s History Month. As you know, February was Black History Month and, although it felt like it passed in the blink of an eye, it certainly began and ended with important programs: the Second Annual Eunice Carter Lecture and a historic trial reenactment of Meredith v. Fair. In their own ways, both events allowed us to reflect on the past, take stock of the present, and explore ‘what’s next?’ through a legal lens.

Now, we are celebrating Women’s History Month, and a lot has been happening at the Law School. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of moderating the final panel of Fordham Law Women’s Fifth Annual Symposium, titled “50 Years Later - A Conversation with the Founders of Fordham Law Women and the Black Law Students Association.” FLW Founder Betty Santangelo ’74 and BLSA Founder Olivia Valentine ’74 spoke with FLW 3L President Katharine Keane ’23 and BLSA President Afrika Owes ’24 to discuss the groups’ origins as well as paths toward a more equitable and diverse profession. When Olivia spoke of BLSA’s genesis, the following stayed with me: “It was not our role to just be lawyers. … Those of us who were women felt like we had a responsibility to the women’s movement, to the Black movement, and to ourselves.”

Our students never cease to amaze me with their passion and engagement through thought-provoking programs year round. I especially look forward to continuing to work with our Law School community in fostering an environment of inclusion, for the remainder of the semester.

Be well,

Kamille Dean
Senior Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Office of Student Affairs

On March 11, Fordham’s Black Law Students Association won National Chapter of the Year at the National Black Law Students Association’s 55th Annual Awards Gala.

The honor comes on the heels of BLSA being recognized with three awards at the Northeast Black Law Students Association awards gala last month: Northeast Region Chapter of the Year, Northeast Region President of the Year, and 50 years of service.

Read more

Kicking off Black History Month, award-winning author and legal expert Dorothy Roberts discussed her career-spanning examination of the “closely entangled” connections between the child welfare and criminal legal systems at the Second Annual Eunice Carter Lecture.

Read more

On Feb. 15, the Center for Judicial Events & Clerkships welcomed the Hon. Bernice B. Donald (Ret.) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to Fordham Law as its 2023 Jurist in Residence. The Jurist in Residence Program brings prominent judges from across the country to the Law School to engage with the Law School community and share their expertise.

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The Sixth Annual Women’s Leadership Institute, presented by The Stein Center for Law and Ethics and The Feerick Center for Social Justice on March 21, empowered junior and mid-level attorneys and current students to succeed in leadership, business development, and career development through interactive workshops and panels.

On International Women’s Day (March 8), Professor Jerry Goldfeder and the Voting Rights and Democracy Project visited with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at the Supreme Court. Fordham’s Black Law Students Association also shared a special moment with Justice Jackson at the Supreme Court. Read more

A Golden Anniversary!

Fordham’s Black Law Students Association and Fordham Law Women are both celebrating their 50th anniversaries this year! Read more about BLSA’s history at the Law School, published in the latest issue of the Fordham Lawyer alumni magazine, and look through BLSA-related documents from the 1970s and 1980s.

On March 7, founders of each group spoke with current student leaders at Fordham Law Women’s Fifth Annual Symposium. Fordham Law Women Founder Betty Santangelo ’74 recalled how she quickly bonded with the other women in her class and how they collectively decided “that a woman’s perspective was needed,” resulting in the creation of the new student group soon after.

Ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), Fordham’s Advocates for Trans* Law Students Co-Founders Grey Berkowitz ’25, Grey Cohen ’24, August Naston ’25, and Rhiannon Reilly ’25 moderated a panel—titled “Healthcare Under Attack: Access to Gender-Affirming Care”—at Fordham OUTLaws’ symposium on March 23.

On Feb. 23, the Center on Asian Americans and the Law hosted a screening of “The Courtroom,” a Waterwell production presented at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. In the film, actor BD Wong plays the role of Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin ’78, Lawrence W. Pierce Distinguished Jurist in Residence. Judge Chin said it was “an amazing honor” to be portrayed on screen by Wong. Read more

On March 8, the Center invited Elaine Chiu, inaugural chairperson of AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force and Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law, for a presentation titled “The Model Minority Victim.” Chiu discussed her forthcoming article, which examines the rise of hate incidents and crimes against Asian Americans in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic (based on 2021 data compiled by the AABANY Anti-Asian Violence Task Force) as well as assesses the effectiveness of the criminal legal system as a tool of anti-racism.

Stein Scholar 1L Rep and evening student Jalyn Radziminski ’26 was invited by the Biden-Harris Administration to share their experiences of living with a mental health disability, as well as chronic compartment syndrome, at the White House’s “Black History Month Roundtable with Young Black Leaders with Disabilities” on Feb. 23. Read more

Wrapping up Black History Month

On Feb. 28, Fordham Law honored the contributions of Constance Baker Motley and James Meredith by telling the story of their battle with Ole Miss and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement via a trial reenactment of the 1961 Meredith v. Fair case. Moderated by Judge Denny Chin ’78 and his wife Kathy Hirata Chin, partner at Crowell & Moring, the reenactment featured Dean Matthew Diller as well as Fordham Law faculty, students, and alumni. A panel discussion with Professors Aysha Ames, Leah Hill, and Thomas Lee, moderated by Professor Bennett Capers, took place afterward.

View the reenactment playbill

Meet Grey Berkowitz ’25 and Taylor Young-Wells ’25, the newest members of the Stein Scholars Program in Public Interest Law and Ethics.

On March 2, the Fordham Urban Law Journal celebrated its 50th anniversary with lively discussions exploring the future of prosecution. The program began with a fireside chat between Breon Peace (pictured on the right), U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Elizabeth Geddes, founder of Shihata & Geddes and former assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. A panel discussion of former prosecutors and defenders with Derick D. Dailey ’17, Sharon L. McCarthy ’89, Kenneth Montgomery ’97, and Eliza Orlins ’08—moderated by Professor Bennett Capers—took place afterward.

Critical Race Judgments, co-edited by Professor Bennett Capers, was selected as an Association of American Publishers PROSE Category Winner for Legal Studies and Criminology.

Professor Tanya Hernández’s Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality was included in Smithsonian Magazine’s list of best books of 2022.

Professor Julie Suk’s forthcoming book, After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do about It, was reviewed by Publishers Weekly as “an intriguing scholarly treatise” as well as “a well-informed and actionable diagnosis of one of society’s most persistent ills.”

There are always additional events happening at Fordham University through the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Take a look at their offerings to find an upcoming program. 

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Email Erin DeGregorio