Victor Marquez ’90 (left), and Rodney Moore ’85, are leaders of large associations of minority lawyers focused on encouraging students of color to consider the legal profession and promoting their success within it.
individuals—not just one person with the burden of representing millions of members of his or her race,” he says. It’s one thing admitting a diverse group of students. Making sure they are successful requires extra attention to them, especially in their first year. Armstrong says, “It’s harder to get your bearings in law school when you are the first generation in graduate school or your educational opportunities have been limited.” To keep an eye on students’ progress, Santa Clara Law has set up classes so that every student has a “small section”—an academic class with only 40 students—to allow faculty to get to know students and check in on their progress. “The students can’t be invisible,” says Hammond. And increasingly, he says, faculty members are incorporating basic law school study skills into their regular classes since law school requires thinking, study, and organizational skills different from those many students have used in the past. The Academic Success Program (ASP), open to all students, helps students develop the academic and analytical skills necessary to succeed in law school and addresses the inevitable disparities in the preparedness of all, not just minority, firstyear law students. It offers study sessions, seminars and workshops, and practice exams.
LAW SCHOOL SUCCESS: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FACE MAKES Wallace walked into his first-year contracts class at Santa Clara Law and received what he says felt like a Christmas present: the face of Professor Hammond, African-American, like his own. “I saw a regular black guy. He looks like a regular black guy, he sounded like a regular black guy. I felt if he could do it I could do it. I knew that he worked hard to get there so I needed to work hard. I was obligated.” To Wallace, a diverse faculty is crucial. “Once you are in law school, faculty is everything,” he says. “Because at the end of the day, it’s about grades and confidence. And confidence comes from having people who understand you.” Daggs, too, is delighted to see faculty members of color. “It tells me that there are many types of people who can fit into the role of professor. Seeing someone who looks like me adds a familiarity that makes me comfortable.” Students also are often drawn to professors of their own color for mentoring. “Students of color are curious to find their place in the profession,” says Daggs. “At one BLSA meeting, female law students were asking whether wearing braids to work is considered professional. These types of questions are very unique. You cannot address these issues in the classroom.” fall 2008 santa clara law 15