New outreach program hopes to help tackle diversity problem at U of T Law
The launch party of the Black Future Leaders program (BFL), on January 15th in Jackman, saw 137 attendees celebrating the new outreach program. Among the audience were law students, staff, faculty, legal professionals, and undergraduate students.
The new outreach program hopes to address the underrepresentation of Black students at the law school and in the legal profession. According to the Faculty’s annual survey, in the past five years, only one percent or less of incoming students at the Faculty of Law JD program identify as Black. BFL is a collaborative effort of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), the Faculty, and Black alumni. The program is modelled after U of T Medicine’s Black Student Application Program, which saw 14 Black students enrolled after its first year of implementation, up from the one student enrolled during the year prior to the program’s launch.
Black Future Lawyers will offer Black-identifying applicants their own admission stream, with the same admissions requirements, which will guarantee their applications are reviewed by at least three staff, students, or alumni who are members of the Black community. Applicants will also have the opportunity to include an additional personal statement.
When Josh Lokko (3L JD/MBA), BLSA Treasurer, was applying to law school, he recalled that he did not know much about what was necessary to create a strong application, especially regarding presenting experience he had working in diversity-related initiatives. “BFL will help make sure that stdents in the program are equipped with all of this knowledge,” Lokko said, “while also making sure that newly admitted students feel welcome and are connected to a strong network.”
Rebecca Barclay Nguinambaye (2L), BLSA President, acknowledges that although BFL has received a lot of support in the legal community, “it’s also up to us to keep pushing it and making sure it’s sustainable.” She wants the momentum to continue past its inaugural year.
Beyond the application stream, the program will offer mentorship and volunteer opportunities within the legal profession. BFL will also host events and workshops for Black undergraduate students, and offer them invitations to the law school’s events. BFL will host their own conference in February at U of T, as well as attend other undergraduate career conferences throughout the year. They are partnered with LAWS to reach out to Black high school students, and hope to establish chapters in other law schools as well, Barclay says.
Barclay remembers how other schools with representation initiatives for Black and other students of colour appealed to her when she was applying to law schools. Having BFL when she applied would have “made my decision [to choose U of T] easier,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been as nervous about coming and wondering what it’s going to be like to be the only or one of a few Black people in the room” The program hopes not only to help more Black students get into law school, but also to offer more support for students once they’re here.
U of T Law has received repeated criticism on its lack of diversity, and Barclay notes this program “signals U of T is acknowledging the problems of representation” and building on the momentum of the wider legal community’s talks and initiatives on diversity.
Response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. After Barclay sent out an initial email inviting Black alumni to the launch, within two days half the RSVPs from legal professionals were from Black legal professionals who she’d never met. Many responded saying they wished there had been programming like this when they were in law school.
However, there has been some concern about the limits of this kind of program. When sharing the initiative in Black community groups online, Barclay noted that a community member commented that initiatives like this can only go so far while there’s still the LSAT, which is stacked against historically disadvantaged groups and acts as a large obstacle to entering the legal profession.
Although there “still remains other challenges to addressing the issue,” Barclay said, “everyone seems to really like the message this is bringing.”
You can read more about BFL and its programming at https://bfl.law.utoronto.ca/.
