Law Schools

Harvard Law Review Elects Its First Latina President

She may be the first, but she won't be the last.

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Harvard UniversityFor all of the recent efforts by law schools and law firms that have been dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, one area that often goes neglected is the makeup of the nation’s top law reviews. For much of the past decade (and earlier), Harvard Law School has taken the lead on these issues.

In 2007, the Harvard Law Review elected its first Hispanic president. In 2011, the Harvard Law Review elected its first openly gay president. In 2017, the Harvard Law Review welcomed the first Black woman to serve as its president. In the same year, the Harvard Law Review selected a majority women editorial class for the first time in history. In 2021, the Harvard Law Review elected its first Muslim president. Now, in 2022, the Harvard Law Review is marking down another historic first.

The Harvard Law Review recently elected Priscila Coronado ’23 as its 136th president. Coronado, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the first Latina to ever serve in this prestigious role. This is what she had to say about her new position in an interview with Harvard Law Today:

“It is an honor that my peers have entrusted me with this institution. I don’t take this role lightly. It also means a lot to be a part of a historic moment. I see my status as the first Latina to mean two things. On the one hand, I don’t want to downplay the achievement or the tangible way that growing up in a two-Mexican-immigrant working-class household has shaped my perspective on the law. They are fundamental to the editorial perspective I bring. On the other hand, I really don’t want my status as the first Latina president to morph into some kind of “model minority” narrative. I believe with every ounce of my soul that there are countless other Latinas who are equally incisive in their logic and reasoning but will never get an opportunity like this because of something as out-of-their-control as where they were born.”

Coronado, a UCLA graduate who’s interested in education law and disability rights, will work as a summer associate at Munger Tolles & Olson later this year. She has some big goals for the Harvard Law Review when it comes to diversity.

“[T]he Review has made important progress on diversifying our board of editors, although there is still more work to be done. I’m hopeful that we will take further steps in my year as president. I believe in the importance of diversity at the Review not only because of my own background, but because I’m convinced that diversity is essential to our mission of publishing rigorous scholarship. The whole point of peer review is to run legal scholarship by a different set of eyes to publish the most cutting-edge research. Having a diverse set of editors follows that principle: The more backgrounds we have represented in our body of editors, the greater variety of interests, backgrounds, and experiences we can draw on to make our scholarship better.”

Congratulations to Priscila Coronado on her groundbreaking achievement.

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Harvard Law Review elects first Latina president [Reuters]
Q&A with Priscila Coronado ’23, Harvard Law Review’s first Latina president [Harvard Law Today]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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