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Theme 1: Black Student Enrollment (Initial Thoughts)

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Theme 1: Black Student Enrollment (Initial Thoughts)

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Please provide initial thoughts on decreasing Black student enrollment numbers. What has happened at your local school? What are you seeing in the news and across the country?

E.g. In the news, I was shocked to see that there were only 19 Black law students, including only 6 Black men, in the current 1L class at Harvard.

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What are some solutions to combatting student enrollment trends generally, but particularly data collection (which the foundation of understanding the problem)? Engaging pre-law students? Working with the admissions?

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I’m not very surprised that there is an enrollment issue. My school’s 1L class is a fraction of the size of classes previous. BLSA’s population is going to dwindle to a few students in a few years if the current trend continues

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It was very troubling to hear that the enrollment rates for Black law students has decreased. I want to do all that I can to assist in rebuilding the foundation and increase the number of black attorneys in the legal field.

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I find the decrease to be very telling of where we are as a nation today and where we’ve always been. One of the members of my Board told me that her son’s admission into college was rescinded and he was placed on the waitlist despite his exceptional qualifications. As a student and President of an HBCU chapter, the problem doesn’t reach us as drastically as it does at PWI’s, but it is still heart breaking regardless.

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Justice Thomas’ concurrence is especially discouraging because through his endorsement of the SFFA ruling, he, in his unique position as the lone Black male SCOTUS Justice, he actually fed the rampant imposter syndrome that exists in BLSA’s population. Especially at PWI’s the very walls inside which we study tell us that we don’t belong there, that we are not worthy, that we’ve stolen someone else’s spot, that we are inherently lesser. Justice Thomas’s “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality is harmful and ignorant of societal factors that make up someone’s life experience. It completely discounted the value of having a diverse populace in law school. I’ve never been a fan of Justice Thomas, but his (incredibly lengthy) concurrence was inflammatory and harmful in ways he never considered. Shame on him.

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At Creighton Law, we actually saw our Black law student enrollment increase for the 2024-2025 school year. Our school has not eliminated the DEI department, and I believe this is why our numbers increased. We are also a private institution. Our 1L class this year actially has the most Black law students in the history of our school. No other class has had this many Black law students at Creighton Law. At Creighton Law, a Race & Law class is offered, but only allows 16 students to register per semester. We are currently pushing for this class to be a requirement to graduate. Nonetheless, I have heard from various schools across the country about their declining numbers. I am concerned about the future for not only the legal field, but also this country as a whole. We should not be regressing, but progressing. As future attorneys, attorneys, judges, & law makers, I believe it is our duty to continue this fight for equity, even if the current and/ or future administration do not support these efforts.

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There are several institutions in Chicago that are soon dismantling their evening law school programs. They say they are doing so in an attempt to follow the legal trends of the nation. As full-time law students, we often forget about this population because they don’t have the opportunity to interact with their local BLSA chapters due to timing. There are so many Black people who are interested in applying to non-traditional programs because they cannot commit to full-time programs. This is a major issue for our community.

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Ripple Effects of Secondary Schools / Undergrad enrollment and performance 

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Ripple Effects of Secondary Schools / Undergrad enrollment and performance 

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I am also interested in seeing these universities that have undergraduate programs does this decline correlate with decline with the Black undergraduate enrollment.

Also, seeing a general and disproportionate decline in K-12 schooling (literacy rates in the USA among both students and adults) and its impact on a matriculation to Law School.

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As someone who regularly works to recruit black law students to attend my law school, I know that part of the problem is the political climate of the state and the loss of black faculty members. 

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As someone who regularly works to recruit black law students to attend my law school, I know that part of the problem is the political climate of the state and the loss of black faculty members. 

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As BLSA President of my chapter, I have the privilege of writing letters of recommendation for Black pre-law students in order to bolster their applications. Not one has been admitted as of late.

To someone’s point earlier, starting the recruitment process early is important. My chapter has a partnership with a non profit in St. Louis - The Village 314 - that is dedicated to the advancement of young Black boys and men. Working with them not only inspired us in our roles, but also left the beneficiaries of the non profit aspiring to be judges!

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I think BLSA should continue to be aggressive reaching out to incoming law students and building community as early as possible—we need to be our own recruiters. We don’t want people turning down offers even if there are valid reasons. To change the environment there must be more of us in that environment. Be the change and all that jazz. Working with admin to get information necessary to do that is going to be a battle every school is going to have to fight.

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Working with non-profits that target young Black men and women

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Working with non-profits that target young Black men and women

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Whether it be a Boys & Girls Club or a local Saturday/afterschool program, we must engage with our local communities’ youth. They often cannot be what they cannot see, unless they are visionaries in their own right.

My BLSA chapter worked with a local organization. We conducted a tour of our law school, did small group legal discussions, and a side project of putting Humpty Dumpty on trial. The students went from wanting to become the next Jalen Hurts (I have full confidence they can), to becoming judges.

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Questions — History of BLSA and Current “State of BLSA”

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Questions — History of BLSA and Current “State of BLSA”

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I think a baseline — BLSA chapters should push to have a Historian position to teach the history of BLSA (National and local) and Black lawyers and laws (nationally and local).

Question — How many universities do NOT have active BLSA chapters? How can local schools support inactive chapters?

How many chapters have Historians?

What other undergraduate or professional Black organizations can BLSA coalition build with locally and nationally ? (Black Med Students, Black Student Movement, D9 Undergrad / Grad)?

What are current issues local chapters are facing and how can the National board provide organizing strategies (or even litigation resources?)

How can chapters support, bolster and protect BLSA so that once we graduate — BLSA is still on campus and receiving funding and have spaces to meet?

How are alumni being mobilized

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What types of resources do your local BLSA chapters need at this time?

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We can't think of everything ourselves. What's missing from the discussion for you?