Queen’s Law hosts local youth in Pathways event

Queen’s Law hosted its first “Pathway to Law” day, in partnership with Pathways to Education, in Kingston on March 29. Pathways provides support services to at-risk high school aged youth to help them successfully graduate from high school and transition into postsecondary education, training or employment.

This recently established partnership with Pathways is part of the Law Faculty’s efforts to increase community engagement and outreach in Kingston. Heather Cole, Assistant Dean of Students, believes that strengthening ties with such community agencies assists the law school in many ways. “Queen’s is committed to enriching the diversity of its student body,” she says. “We want to create a pipeline to law school for students who have been traditionally underrepresented. Bringing them here for a day shows them the wealth of opportunities available to them, right in their own backyard.”

The visit kicked off in the morning with open discussions between the attendees and some current law students, and then moved into a panel discussion to talk about different paths not only into law school but also after graduation. Students were given tours of the law school, provided with lunch in the student lounge and then had the opportunity to sit in on a real law school class.

Aimee Burtch, Manager of Admissions and Outreach, comments on the impact the day had on the students attending: “I overheard students talk about how they had never considered coming to law school and had no idea what the experience would be like. They could not believe how friendly the students were, how open the professor (Erik Knutsen) was to ideas and how willing people were to speak with them, including our Dean.”

The law school hopes to make the Pathways visit an annual event. “The hope is that students will see law school as a real possibility,” says Cole. “We want to expand young people’s ideas of who can come to law school and expose them to some of the benefits of a law degree.” The Pathways visit demonstrates the law school’s commitment to increasing its presence in the local community.

Professor Knutsen, who welcomed the students into his class, says the day was just as important for current students as it was for those visiting from Pathways. “Queen’s Law students were extremely impressed with our efforts to showcase law as an option for a diverse group of students,” he says. “Many told me they wished they had the same kind of opportunity when they were in high school.”