Diversity & Inclusion

Dear Members of the Delaware Law School Community:

Issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism are of paramount importance in law, society and higher education.  The Delaware Law School (DLS) of Widener University is deeply committed to these values, not only in words, but through deliberate, constructive and ongoing action now and into the future, including in recruitment, the learning environment, bar passage, and career placement, among other areas. 

DLS has taken an institution-wide approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion.  In 2020, DLS recognized and apologized for not having done enough in the past about these issues and pledged to commit to do more.  Through the collaborative efforts of students, alumni, faculty and the administration, DLS instituted its inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan, as an initial step to address matters relating to diversity and race and help create and foster a more diverse, inclusive and equitable learning and working environment for all its constituents.  The Dean of the Law School  whole-heartedly embraced and endorsed the Delaware Law School’s adoption of the  Strategic Plan and the plan was unanimously approved by the Law Faculty on October 22, 2020.

Download the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan as a pdf.

Through concrete action steps, with partnerships and collaborations extending through every level of the Law School, and with greater levels of communication, transparency, and accountability, DLS strives to create an environment that is respectful of our students and that is diverse, inclusive, and free from any forms of racial harassment, hatred, or discrimination.

The approach DLS is taking ensures the highest levels of transparency, cultural competency, curricular and course offerings on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), admissions and promotion standards, as well as sanctions for failure to abide by the University’s Equal Opportunity, Harassment and Nondiscrimination Policy.

Recent DEI initiatives include:

• DLS created an Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position, filled in July 2021 by Joseph D. Farris III, Esq. (see announcement here). Filling this position was the Law School’s highest hiring priority.
• DLS created a Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, whose membership is comprised of law faculty, administrators, students, and alumni, was constituted and commenced operations in November 2020. This Committee has, and under the guidance of the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will continue to organize listening sessions, implement faculty training, conduct DEI campus climate surveys, conduct and support training of students and administrators, and review/revise (as appropriate) and ensure compliance with the Strategic Plan, among other things.
• Creation of a DEI Student Council (DSC). Created to foster greater collaboration, inclusion and belonging among student groups which in many cases have operated in silos. The inaugural DSC will be up and running in Fall 2022 which should help empower student and community leaders and further engagement with the legal community, and Widener and Delaware Law administration, faculty and staff.
• The creation of a comprehensive plan for promoting cultural competency in the curriculum. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will liaison with the Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to develop a comprehensive plan for enhancing the coverage of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues within the Law School Curriculum. This Comprehensive Plan is ongoing.
• Enhancement of curriculum and course offerings on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DLS has committed to the provision of course offerings related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. DLS has offered such courses, including courses in Critical Race Studies, Public Health Law & Inequality, Community Impact Lawyering, Immigration Rights, and Equality and the Law. The Delaware Law Faculty has and will continue to provide training and education for faculty on how to incorporate issues germane to race, diversity, equity, and inclusion in courses throughout the curriculum.
• Delaware Law Engages. Each year the Standing Committee selects a book or other medium is as required reading or watching for all incoming students as part of Orientation and the 1L curriculum.
  • In 2022, the book, Multicultural Lawyering: Navigating the Culture of the Law, the Lawyer, and the Client by Kimberly E. O'Leary and Mable Martin-Scott has been selected as the focus of Delaware Law Engages. This book is a mix of policy, legal history, professionalism, and lawyering skills. It explores multiculturalism, the reasons behind calls for diversity in the legal profession, and the culture of the law, among other topics.
  • In 2021, the book Choosing Equality: Essays and Narratives on the Desegregation Experience by Robert L. Hayman and Leland Ware was selected. The subject of the book: the impact of Brown v. The Board of Education and the desegregation experience in Delaware – one of the four states whose segregated schools led to the famous Supreme Court opinion in 1954.
• Law School practicum courses and pro bono service on social justice issues. DLS will continue the social justice academic programs that began in the summer of 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. One such program involves the Law School’s Medical-Legal Partnership—the Health, Education, and Legal assistance Project (HELP), which has been awarded a Health Equity Grant from New Castle County to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the County’s vulnerable communities, and to develop mitigation plans for legal advocates and other advocacy groups.
• Admissions pipeline to promote diversity in Delaware Law admissions and the legal profession. DLS will continue to engage in efforts to further its goal of increasing diversity in the student population and will examine ways to retain students of color and other underrepresented groups. In furtherance of this goal, this past academic year former Dean Rod Smolla and Asst. Dean Joseph Farris served on a task force partnership with the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court and the leadership of Delaware State University and other local colleges and universities. The task force proposed strategies to enhance pipelines from middle and high schools to Delaware State and then to admissions to Delaware Law School to enhance diversity at the Law School and by extension the Delaware bar and bench. Proposals from all the task forces involved in the effort to improve diversity in Delaware’s legal landscape are included in The Delaware Bench and Bar Diversity Project Steering Committee’s resulting plan, “Improving Diversity in the Delaware Bench and Bar – Strategic Plan,” which is available here.
• Workshops sponsored by the Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
  • An example of the 2021 workshops are shown here: Workshops on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (pdf)
• DEI Climate Survey. The Standing Committee conducted both student and employee surveys in Spring 2021 and Spring 2022. The survey summaries are available here.

Values Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (pdf).