Changes are in store for the Paul M. Hebert Law Center as its Diversity and Professionalism Committee begins implementing recommendations from its Diversity Task Force report.
The faculty committee, formed in anticipation of the report’s release, will meet today for the first time since the task force submitted its report to interim co-deans William “Bill” Corbett and Cheney Joseph Jr.
“Our committee has actually already begun working on it,” Corbett said. “But now that they have the report in hand, we will meet with them [today] to begin working on the implementation of the recommendations in the report.”
Former Chancellor and Dean of the Law Center Jack Weiss commissioned the report in October 2014 to “help students succeed, foster camaraderie among all students, and promote better understanding of one another’s cultures and experiences,” according to the report.
The report was commissioned prior to the Law Center’s
realignment with the main campus, but Corbett said he was eager to use the resources the partnership offers.
“Of course, we are now part of the main campus, so we have assistance from the diversity office and that’s a good thing,” Corbett said. “I think that will help us move forward.”
The task force — comprised of faculty, students, alumni and community leaders — made 17 distinct recommendations to encourage diversity within the Law Center, including revisions to the Law Center’s diversity and mission statements, creating a student handbook and an office of Student Affairs and hiring adjunct professors.
Some revisions are already underway, Corbett said, and can be implemented “fairly quickly.”
Others, including hiring more faculty and staff, are expensive to execute and will require more planning, Corbett said.
The task force was created following several events in the 2013-14 school year, including “the use of racial epithets, sexist and misogynistic comments, and homophobic slurs within the Law Center community,” according to the report.
The report focused on both quantitative diversity, the facts and figures related to “the recruitment of historically marginalized groups,” and qualitative diversity, which promotes “a culture of inclusiveness, openness, and mutual respect.”
The 2014-15 first year class is comprised of 17.5 percent self-identifying minority students compared to 10 percent in the fall 2007 class. Women make up 25.7 percent of tenured professors, and African-Americans make up 8.6 percent.
Corbett said the Law Center is pleased with the report and excited to implement the task force’s suggestions.
“We think they are great recommendations to improve the environment and our community around here,” Corbett said. “And we are eager to begin implementing those recommendations.”