Dear all,
The Yale Law Journal takes concerns about diversity and inclusion in our membership extremely seriously, and we share in the disappointment about the number of Black and Latinx students that made it onto the Journal this year. We write to provide some information about our ongoing efforts to make the Journal a more diverse community, and to explain the steps we’ve been taking to respond directly to the concerns raised here and elsewhere.
The announcement of our new masthead provided an important opportunity for us to evaluate our existing diversity efforts, and to consider new initiatives. As you know, the Journal recently commissioned two extensive reports about diversity and inclusion on YLJ. Our Board, like the ones before it, has strived to learn from these studies and to develop and implement new initiatives to further these goals. Before the admissions process began, the members of the Board most directly involved in admissions… reached out to the leadership of every Alliance for Diversity affiliated group to set up individual meetings where we discussed our shared concerns and goals for Journal admissions and beyond. Throughout the admissions process, our Diversity & Membership Editor provided tailored support to the affinity groups that conduct their own trainings for the three components of our admissions process (the Bluebook exam, the critical essay, and the diversity statement), as well as to those that did not conduct their own trainings. We think these efforts have been productive, but we certainly agree there remains more work to be done to ensure that YLJ is as diverse and inclusive a community as possible.
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Immediately after the masthead was released last week… began discussions with the new leaders of BLSA, LLSA, and APALSA, as well as with the YLS Administration. During the past weekend, we spoke at length with those leaders, explaining our admissions process, answering questions, and together constructively discussing our plans for the ongoing work of ensuring that the Journal is as diverse and inclusive as it can be. We found the discussions productive and helpful, and we plan to continue these conversations throughout the upcoming semester and beyond as we take steps towards realizing that goal.
Please know that diversity has been and remains a priority for the Yale Law Journal. We encourage anyone with further questions, concerns, or suggestions to reach out to any of us directly—we welcome further discussion and collaboration as we continue to work toward making YLJ a more diverse and inclusive community.