Enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of NYU School of Law and the profession by leading thought and action on issues of diversity, including but not limited to race, as they apply within the Law School and in the law and society more broadly.
By increasing the diversity of the student body, faculty, and administration, as well as ensuring the inclusiveness of the Law School community, NYU Law will enrich learning and scholarship, best prepare students for success in their chosen careers, and contribute to the diversification of the legal profession. By establishing itself as a center of thought leadership in this area, the Law School will create an organizing place for scholarship, discourse, and action on relevant legal and policy issues. And by exploring the creation of new programs to engage historically underrepresented communities (whether understood in terms of race, socioeconomic status, or other salient factors), the Law School will seek to improve the diversity of potential applicants in the pipeline to law school and the profession.
OBJECTIVES
Expand efforts to recruit faculty and students of color and from historically underrepresented groups to the Law School. Emphasize transparency regarding diversity-related recruitment at the Law School, including by making statistics about diversity in faculty hiring available to students and faculty.
Become a leader in the improvement of the pipeline to the legal profession more generally by building on existing programs and exploring new partnerships with organizations working with middle-school, high school, and college students.
Establish two centers at the Law School—one to focus on issues of race and ethnicity and one to focus more broadly on diversity, inclusion, and belonging—to build on NYU Law’s longstanding leadership in these areas.
Enlarge the Law School’s need- and merit-based scholarship programs to better attract and support students of color and from historically underrepresented groups.
Continue efforts by the Diversity Working Group, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Graduate Affairs, the faculty, and administrative departments to improve the climate both in and out of the classroom, including by providing training on issues of implicit bias and exploring pedagogical methods to better support the learning of all students.
Ensure that adequate administrative, faculty, and peer-to-peer support systems exist to help all students feel welcome and supported once they enroll at the Law School.
Become a leader in improving diversity and inclusion beyond the legal academy, including by providing relevant executive education programs to companies, institutions, and firms.