November 30, 2011
Media
Mention
An early connection
By Karen Sloan
The National Law Journal
November 28, 2011
If racial diversity in the legal profession is ever to climb above
the 10% mark where it has hovered for the past decade, pre-law
counselors and law school admissions officers need to do a better
job of identifying promising minority applicants, guiding them
through the often intimidating application process and ensuring
that they graduate.That was the consensus among 80 law deans,
admissions officers and pre-law counselors who gathered at St.
John's University School of Law on Nov. 11 for a conference on
diversity in law school admissions.
"The paucity of students of color in law school is very complex and
multifaceted," said Leonard Baynes, a law professor at St. John's
who oversees an intensive law school prep program for minority
students. "Some of it is societal. Some of it is sociological or
psychological. Some is institutions increasing LSAT scores and some
is the lack of pre-law advising, or not the best pre-law
advising."