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Diversity and Inclusion

The Southern Illinois University School of Law is an anti-racist institution that is committed to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in the profession of law and society at large. We welcome and actively recruit students, staff, and faculty who want to work and learn in an environment that nurtures and respects diversity in all its forms, including race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, gender indentity or expression, sexual orientation, age, culture, disability, and military status.

Public Antiracism Statement by the Faculty of the Southern Illinois University School of Law

COMMITTEES

  • Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Committee
  • Dean’s Advisory Working Group – Diversity & Inclusion (alumni)
  • Dean’s Diversity Leadership Council (RSO Presidents)
  • Student Bar Association Diversity Committee

NEWSTORY

SIU students, faculty research area’s history of race and law

Diversity

Courses

  • LAW 519 - Constitutional Law: Individual Rights
  • LAW 593  - Immigration Law
  • LAW 559  - International Business Transactions
  • LAW 558  - International Law
  • LAW 580  - Legal Profession
  • LAW 627  - Women in Leadership: Diverse Leaders for a Diverse Workforce
  • LAW 590 -  Slavery, Race, Law, & History in Southern Illinois

Events

  • Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month (Sept.-Oct.)
  • LGBTQ+ History Month (Oct.)
  • Native American Heritage Month (Nov.)
  • Black History Month (Feb.)
  • Women’s History Month (Mar.)
  • Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Apr.)
  • Diversity Prelaw Summer Institute (a pipeline program)
  • Upward Bound
  • Critical Lens on Current Issues

Scholarships and Awards

Diversity and Inclusion Alumni Award

Thurgood Marshall Award (student)

Sponsorships

Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) – Sustaining Institution

Diversity Scholarship Foundation

 

SIU School of Law Diversity event with speaker

Critical Lens on Current Issues

SIU School of Law hosts discussions of pending and recent Supreme Court decisions on issues affecting groups celebrated during the University’s history and heritage months. In the Fall, discussions were led by faculty; in the Spring discussions were led by leaders in the legal profession.

 Fall 2023

  • East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Biden (led by Prof. Buys)
  • 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (led by Prof. Anderson and Cox)
  • Haaland v. Brackeen (led by Prof. Upchurch)

Spring 2024 

  • Discussion about women in war led by Prof. Tetyana Antsupova, British Institute of International and Comparative Law and former Supreme Court Justice of Ukraine
  • Discussion about anti-Asian discrimination and hate crimes led by Grace Pai, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago
  • Discussion of the SAFE-T Act, led by Joe Cervantes ’13 Jackson County State’s Attorney, Celeste Korando ’03 Jackson County Public Defender, Hon. Jonathan Mitchell Associate Judge First Judicial Circuit, Stan Reno Chief of Police Carbondale IL, Justin Kuehn ’01 Past-President IL Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Kevin Zielinksi ‘25

Projects and Programs

Slavery, Race, and the Law in Southern Illinois

OUTlaw Translegal Name Change and Gender Marker Project

School of Law Women in Leadership Program 

Resources

For Military Members

SUPPORTING THOSE WHO SERVE
The School of Law is part of the Southern Illinois University system, with a tradition of over 150 years of educational excellence, serving a diverse, multicultural student body.

SIU has a long history of supporting those who serve by providing outstanding educational opportunities to military veterans; active duty, National Guard, and Reserve personnel; and their families. These educational opportunities for service members extend to the SIU School of Law.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale has earned recognition from national publications.

  • Named in Military Times magazine for being “Best for Vets: Colleges 2020” for four-year universities. The university has made that list in each of the last nine years.
  • Military Advanced Education & Transition magazine awarded SIU Carbondale a “Top School” designation in its “2018 Guide to Colleges and Universities.” SIU has made the list in each of the 11 years the guide has been published.

SIU Law enables military students to maximize their educational benefits in a supportive environment. SIU Law offers military students the following resources.

  • Military Student Sponsor Program that matches admitted students with an established upper-level law student;
  • Assigned faculty mentor at time of admittance;
  • Military Law Society, a registered law student organization of service members and allies; and
  • Access to SIUC’s Veterans Services Office.

While in law school, students learn the skills necessary to become a leader in the profession and can choose to use those skills to give back to the military community through the SIU Law Veterans' Legal Assistance Program Clinic, the Veterans Legal and Medical Partnership (VetLAMP), and other pro bono initiatives.

Law Military