Stein Scholar and activist Leeanne Cunningham ’16 shares her insight and experience.
Q: What motivated you to start to organize around issues of race and diversity?
A: I have been organizing around issues of race and diversity since I was a freshman at Bates College. I noticed early on at Bates that there weren’t many students that came from black and brown communities and that was very problematic for me. From college, to graduate school and now here at Fordham Law, I’ve recognized that the problems related to diversity are systemic and the process to change that takes true activism and commitment.
At Fordham, I was moved to start organizing again when I learned of the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. A group of students from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Stein Scholars Program decided to co-organize a town hall on race and police brutality. I was one of the moderators for that event. During the town hall, several students voiced their concerns and we decided to take collective action as students to raise awareness of issues having to do with race and diversity at Fordham Law School. Razeen Zaman ’16, Rodrigo Bacus ’16, and I volunteered to collect all of the ideas from the town hall and formulate them into a letter, which addressed specific gaps we identified at the law school. Another motivating factor was the experiences we each had with students and faculty members either using offensive or inappropriate language or not knowing how to address those types of statements when used by others.
Q: What was your first endeavor?
A: Our first effort was to draft a letter to the administration, which outlined three specific requests identified during the town hall: 1) implementation of cultural competency training; 2) incorporation of materials about race and class into law school classes; and 3) increase diversity by providing opportunity scholarships for underrepresented students and allowing students to sit on the admissions committee. We circulated the letter broadly, secured around 200 signatures and submitted it towards the end of the spring 2015 semester.
Q: Did anything change as a result of the letter?
A: As a result of that letter, there have already been significant changes. First, we now have two student seats on the admissions committee, both of which have been filled by Stein Scholars, Razeen Zaman ’16 and Olivia Gonzalez ’16. Second, we organized an implicit bias workshop during Stein Hour in October. Third, Assistant Dean Escalera is now working on creating a school-wide training for all incoming 1Ls. Fourth, we have been meeting with faculty and the administration about expanding course materials. Fifth, students are eager to get involved and make this bigger than we initially imagined.
Q: Can you describe the implicit bias workshop?
A: We thought it would be good for all students, faculty, and staff to participate in an anti-racism training, so that everyone at the law school could learn how language, assumptions, and privilege effects directly impacted members of the community and the law school at large. Although we wanted to organize a school-wide training, we decided to start by piloting a program with the Stein Scholars. After Dr. Courtney Cogburn agreed to conduct the workshop, we worked all summer with her to develop a program geared towards Fordham Law School students, in part by providing her with specific anecdotes we had been collecting from law students. The training went really well and also gave us ideas of how we want to enhance and expand it for next time. We are already in conversation with the law school administration about making a similar program required for all incoming 1Ls, hopefully starting with fall 2016.
Q: What happened with the admissions committee and the course materials?
A: For the first time in Fordham’s history, students are now part of the admissions committee. We are committed to understanding why such a small percentage of students of color attend Fordham Law School and to changing that dynamic. While we know that expansion of scholarships and financial aid are key, we are confident that with direct student involvement on the admissions committee, we will also identify other ways to select more students of color who are equally qualified and encourage more students of color to apply to and attend Fordham Law School. Finally, we have been meeting regularly with faculty and administration and we are hopeful that more and more courses will incorporate materials that explicitly address topics such as race and class. While we respect the need for academic freedom and understand that specific course materials cannot be mandated, we are pleased that so many people at the law school are willing to brainstorm with us about ways to address this issue.
Q: Does your group have future plans?
A: We are working on several next steps. First, we want to form a permanent student group, so that there is always a group of students working on these issues at the law school. Second, we want to organize another event for the whole school before the end of the year, to follow up with students and encourage them to keep the momentum alive that was started during last year’s town hall. We are very grateful to Dean Diller and Assistant Deans Escalera and Davidson for their commitment to working on these matters in a meaningful, ongoing way.
Q: Have you prioritized these issues as a law student in other ways?
A: While a student in the International Human Rights Clinic, I developed a project on domestic police abuse. It was important to me to extend human rights principles to the domestic sphere and to apply them to people of color living in this country. I worked in a team on two projects. One was a policy strategy memo for a Black Lives Movement organizer, New York Justice League, which outlined legal and non-legal ways to address the broken windows strategy of policing. The second project was a report we submitted to the Office of the Inspector General on the impact of broken windows policing and the ways it disproportionately affects people of color.
I also stay engaged with my community by mentoring young people. Presently, I mentor young black MLK High School students, to help them be as prepared as possible for college. And I mentor 1L and 2L students at the law school through BLSA.
Q: What is your goal upon graduation?
A: My career goal has always been to be a legal advocate and activist, whether that means in the courtroom, as a community organizer, or in the world of policy and legislation. I don’t want to stray far from my roots. I obtained my confidence and determination from my community, the same community that is being marginalized and exploited, so it is important for me to use my skills to benefit the members of those neighborhoods.
I grew up in a community that was over-policed and subject to over-criminalization. From the time I was a young woman, I have borne witness to the impact of racism. Now that I am in law school, I am in a position of privilege and I want to use that position to help my neighbors and make a difference on issues that directly affect all communities vulnerable to exploitation, marginalization, and systematic racism.
Q: Do you have a message for other activists at the law school?
A: You are in the position to do more than just be a student in a classroom. Use your skills, your contacts, and your knowledge to organize, mobilize, and create change for communities most affected by the very system in which we will be practicing. Even if you don’t want to be a public interest lawyer, there’s always something to do, to get involved with, especially as a law student. I couldn’t have done it alone. I needed a team of others who were equally motivated to implement change. Rodrigo and Razeen have been instrumental to my ability to be an activist at Fordham Law School and we have worked hard to make change together.
