A letter to students of the University of Idaho College of Law, by Dean Don Burnett:
Dear Student Colleagues,
On February 13–16, the College of Law will host a special guest who will conduct dialogues on professionalism and diversity with all students, staff, and faculty. Dean Blake D. Morant of the Wake Forest University School of Law will hold dialogue sessions with 3L students in Boise as well as with 1L, 2L, and 3L students in Moscow, plus sessions with staff and faculty at each location. The Boise 3L student session will take place on Monday, February 13, followed by three sessions in Moscow for 1L, 2L, and 3L students, respectively, on Tuesday, February 14. (Faculty and staff sessions will be conducted on February 13 in Boise and on February 15-16 in Moscow.)
The purposes of the student sessions are to identify the elements and importance of professionalism in the academic experience and in future careers, and to illuminate the links between diversity and professional success. For these purposes, “diversity” will be viewed in a comprehensive sense – including backgrounds and perspectives as well as demographic characteristics of our law school community, the legal profession, and the public served by the profession. The sessions will not be “talk at” programs; rather, they will be guided conversations that encourage candid and respectful expression, personal reflection, and insight.
Dean Morant will bring to Idaho a distinctive set of credentials and experiences. After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, he served in the JAG Corps of the U.S. Army, worked as general counsel to the District of Columbia Metro Transit Authority, and taught on the law faculties of the University of Toledo, University of Michigan, Washington & Lee University, and the University of Alabama before becoming Associate Dean for Academic Affairs – and now the Dean – at Wake Forest. He is a scholar and consultant to the courts, as well as to American legal education, on issues of equal opportunity under law. As you will discover, he is also a remarkably open, friendly, and thoughtful person.
These dialogues are a high priority for the College of Law. Accordingly, all students, staff, and faculty are expected to attend and participate in their respective sessions. Classes will be rescheduled in order to assure full attendance. When the specific time-and-date schedule is distributed to students, any student who has a serious, irreconcilable conflict will submit to Dean Albertson, in advance of the assigned session, a memo seeking an excused absence and detailing the conflict. Roll will be taken at each session. Attending students will have a certificate of participation placed in their student record files. Any student who does not participate, and has not been excused, will have a memorandum to that effect placed in his or her student record file.
In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the U.S. Supreme Court, in a majority opinion authored by then-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, observed that “numerous expert studies and reports [show] that … diversity promotes learning outcomes and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce …. Major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.”
Our dialogues on professionalism and diversity are intended to give Idaho law graduates an advantage as they put their knowledge and skills to work in this “global marketplace.”
– Don Burnett
My comments:
I’m actually a pretty big proponent of diversity. Just as you make your stock portfolio strong by diversifying your shares, we as a nation/school/community become strong through a diverse populace. Additionally, I think it’s helpful to take the opportunity to see the world through another person’s eyes. That isn’t to say that we should accept their beliefs. That isn’t even to say we should tolerate all beliefs. It is however, absolutely helpful to be able to understand the “why” behind a person’s beliefs. In that way we can communicate clearly and either reach a common ground or have the moral high ground in a fight.
The University of Idaho is a generally tolerant community. I imagine it’s probably more tolerant than most communities, but it certainly has it’s share of the intolerant. I’ve been referred to as a “queer lover” within those walls. I’ve heard and seen a lot of intolerance among both students and faculty. I have also said some pretty controversial things, especially as directed toward organized religion, with special emphasis toward my Mormon friends. Therefore, in my mind, some diversity talks may be of value.
However, we do not demonstrate our commitment toward respecting divergent beliefs by mandating attendance to these meetings. Most importantly, YOU DO NOT THREATEN YOUR STUDENTS with adverse action on their student records. The Dean may offer a carrot, but has no right to raise a stick. I dislike bigots, but I hate bullies even more.
Additionally, while this discussion may be of value, the mandatory nature of it causes those most in need of the experience to immediately recoil at the thought of having an agenda pushed upon them. While this may or may not be the case for this specific instance, I have witnessed much more indoctrination at the law school than I ever did in the military. A person would be right to be wary.
