K AT E B U R G E S S
One of the many ways Santa Clara Law helps minority students succeed is through the Academic Success Program (open to all students), which offers study sessions, seminars and workshops, and practice exams to help students develop the academic and analytical skills necessary to succeed in law school.
Santa Clara Law has as well. Six years ago, it began its Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) program. Sponsored by the Law School Admission Council, and one of only six such programs in the country, it brings college students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in the law to campus for four weeks to see what it’s like to be a lawyer (and to see lawyers who look like them). The students, who come from all over the U.S., stay in the dorms with all expenses paid. Graduates of the program are currently in law school at Santa Clara, Hastings, and USF, says Jeanette Leach, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. (Armstrong, a teacher in the PLUS program, noted that there were no African-American male students in the 2008 summer PLUS program.) For minority students who do make it through college, what sort of reception do they get at the admissions office? Santa Clara Law hopes it will be a warm welcome. It has tried hard to avoid a trend in the nation’s law schools to characterize a student’s promise as a lawyer solely based on numbers, something Ancheta refers to as “the pressure that ranking systems place on law schools to show high LSAT scores and GPAs.” Marquez calls it “a cookie-cutter approach to law school admissions” that results in fewer Latino lawyers. Many law schools, says Marquez, “are focused on who will pass the bar the first time around; they are not looking at people’s unique traits. If we want a legal profession that reflects society, we need a new paradigm for what makes a good lawyer.” Santa Clara Law’s Special Admissions Policy, which has not changed since it was established in 1972, allows students to apply for admission emphasizing qualifications beyond the traditional GPA and LSAT scores, including their motivation, community involvement, and extracurricular activities that show potential for success. Students admitted under this program have mandatory tutoring and other services to help them succeed, including the school’s Academic Success Program.
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SUCCESS BEYOND LAW SCHOOL Upon graduating from Santa Clara Law, many minority lawyers are poised for success in practice. Santa Clara Law seeks to help keep them on track. Minority lawyers are often hotly pursued by law firms and offered high starting salaries. According to the National Association for Law Placement, male and female minority graduates are making on average $145,000 compared with $115,000 for non-minority women and $130,000 for nonminority men. Just over 18 percent of associates in law firms nationwide are minorities. One reason for this demand is corporations that require the law firms they hire to demonstrate diversity. For instance, Wal-Mart’s Web site says: “Twenty-six percent of the attorneys in our U.S. legal department are minorities and 42 percent are women. Half of the officers in the legal department are women and minorities. We expect nothing less from the firms we choose to represent us.” Why? Because, according to Gordon Yamate ’80, former general counsel for Knight-Ridder and chair of the in-house Counsel Committee of National Asian Pan American Bar Association, “The only way for a corporation to have credibility is to reflect the community it serves.” Vicki Huebner, assistant dean for Law Career Services, says, “Diversity is increasingly important to the financial well being of law firms. Large law firms in major metropolitan areas will most likely have a diversity committee, which promotes the recruitment and retention of minority lawyers.” Unfortunately, minority associates may encounter roadblocks as they near partnership: Only 5.4 percent of law firm partners nationwide are minorities. Ancheta attributes this dropoff in part to “glass ceiling” issues, “unconscious bias against minorities and women that limit their job opportunities.” Santa Clara Law professors, administration, and alumni are all involved in educating minority students about these possible challenges (some of which apply to women and gays as well) and helping them overcome them. Many have personal experiences in dealing with racial and ethnic barriers.