Students’ Law Society to fill additional student positions on committee
For the first time, the Faculty of Law asked the Students’ Law Society (SLS) for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to sit on the Admissions Committee. In previous years, these positions were appointed by the Dean’s office. But with advocacy efforts from the SLS for more diverse student representation in the admissions process, the Dean’s Office has delegated this task to the SLS for the upcoming cycle.
The Admissions Committee is co-chaired by Professor Benjamin Alarie and Professor Adriana Robertson. It is made up of the Assistant Dean, JD Program, faculty members, appointed 3L students, staff, and elected members of the Student Life and Academic Committee (SLAC). They are tasked with reviewing the personal statements, sketches, and optional essays of applicants to identify individuals who can enrich the law school community through their diverse backgrounds and experiences.
In a comment to Ultra Vires, Dean Jutta Brunnée explained that five additional 3L students are appointed every year to the Admissions Committee to help divide the workload of reviewing the applications over a larger number of people. These five students were previously selected and personally invited by the Dean’s Office; however, this year, Dean Brunnée asked the SLS for their recommendations.
Recognizing the importance of having a diverse readership for the fair assessment of applications, the SLS began advocating for the inclusion of additional students from underrepresented communities in early 2020 to former Dean Edward Iacobucci. In their efforts, the SLS emphasized that these unique perspectives on the committee will ensure that the broad range of prior work, volunteer, and extracurricular experiences of applicants will be fully appreciated and considered, contributing to the holistic nature of the U of T Law admissions process.
“Diversity on the Admissions Committee in assessing these statements helps continue to dismantle the notion that only a certain type of person, with a certain type of background, would excel in the legal profession,” the SLS stated in a comment to Ultra Vires. The students the SLS recommended “are leaders in the larger law community and in their own communities, who demonstrated cultural competence/sensitivity and passion for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at the law school.”
Applicants for these seats were required to write a 200-word statement detailing their interest in the position. Only graduating JD students were eligible to apply. Applications were reviewed by the SLAC executives, including the President, VP Academic, and VP Student Life, as well as the SLAC-side Equity Officer. Going forward, this ad hoc application process will be reviewed by the SLS.
