Open Letter to Our Staff
Today, we are releasing a letter to our students and alumni, directed to them as lawyers and future lawyers, about the racial injustice in our legal system that has been (once more) laid bare for all to see. We are speaking to them as mentors, as educators, and as colleagues in the profession, committing ourselves to more awareness and action, and urging them to likewise commit themselves.
To you, our indispensable and beloved staff, we have a message that is similar in some respects and different in others. You are our partners in teaching our students and supporting them as they become professionals in the legal system. You are our colleagues, our friends, and those whose work allows us and our students to thrive and succeed. Your work both at the law school and in your own families and communities also supports efforts toward a more just system, and we acknowledge and respect that work and those commitments.
Many of you (like some of us) are also very personally affected by the racism that poisons our society. You have told us about how deeply painful this is, how exhausting the worry and anxiety are, how much the damage that racism inflicts has affected your lives and your emotional well-being. We want you to know that we know this, we see it, and we support you and your families as we struggle together to find a way forward that will allow this country to live up to its often-proclaimed ideals.
We look forward to the time when we can work together in person again, but in the meanwhile, we acknowledge the pain and fear that many among our staff are experiencing during the pandemic and the aftermath of the latest manifestations of racial injustice in our system. We acknowledge that this pain and fear do not strike us all equally.
Your ideas to make the law school and our communities better and more inclusive places are important. Your personal experiences and the actions that you take to achieve social justice and equality in our country matter. We commit to fighting racial injustice, and to working towards making the law school and the world outside it a better and safer place. And we stand with you.
June 8, 2020
Signatories:
Scott Altman
Pauline Aranas
Jody D. Armour
Jonathan Barnett
Scott Bice
Rebecca L. Brown
Alexander M. Capron
Elizabeth Carroll
Michael A. Chasalow
Catherine H. Coleman
David B. Cruz
Judy Davis
Sam Erman
Susan R. Estrich
Edward Finegan
Niels Frenzen
Ronald R. Garet
Hannah Garry
Thomas D. Griffith
Ariela J. Gross
Sofia Gruskin
Cindy Guyer
Andrew T. Guzman
Diana C. Jaque
Felipe Jiménez
Kyle Jones
Gregory C. Keating
Daniel M. Klerman
Lisa Klerman
Martin Levine
Rebecca Lonergan
Dorothy S. Lund
Thomas D. Lyon
Jessica Marglin
Edward J. McCaffery
Paul Moorman
Clare Pastore
Jef Pearlman
Brian Peck
Marcela Prieto
Brian Raphael
Robert K. Rasmussen
Jean Reisz
Alison Dundes Renteln
Stephen M. Rich
Laura Riley
Daria Roithmayr
Heidi Rummel
Emily Ryo
Elyn R. Saks
Rob Saltzman
Hilary Schor
Donald Scotten
Michael H. Shapiro
Dan Simon
Karen Skinner
Nomi Stolzenberg
Franita Tolson
Abby K. Wood
Susan C. Wright
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