Three 3L Stein Scholars—Rodrigo Ricxu Bacus ’16, Leeanne Cunningham ’16, and Razeen Zaman ’16—took the lead in forming a new student group: the Coalition of Concerned Students. The group, which consists of representatives of different student identity groups, including BLSA, APALSA, LALSA, MLSA, and JLSA, as well as social justice oriented clubs, such as the National Lawyer’s Guild, the Immigration Advocacy Project, and Prisoners’ Rights Advocates, had its kick-off meeting for interested students and faculty on Monday, April 18. With the goal of making Fordham Law School more racially diverse and more responsive to racial injustice incidents that occur at the Law School, the coalition will continue the important groundwork laid by Rodrigo, Leeanne, and Razeen this past year, which included securing student representation on the admissions committee, among other changes. For example, the group will look to incorporate implicit bias training into 1L orientation and urge the faculty to refashion the 1L curriculum to include treatment of race, gender, class, and other intersectional issues that impact how the law affects a person’s life.
Following is the coalition’s mission statement:
The Coalition of Concerned Students at Fordham Law School is a law student group founded by law students of color to fight systematic oppressions at FLS. We seek to ensure that Fordham lives up to its promise of delivering a “complete legal education” by dismantling institutional injustices that are common occurrences at Fordham Law. We strive to create an environment where we emerge as competent attorneys equipped with the problem-solving abilities and critical thinking skills that utilize law as a tool of creating positive social change instead of reinforcing the status quo. We are united in response to the current state of diversity crisis that exists at Fordham Law. The Coalition represents a cross-section of student organizations at Fordham.
The coalition is the most recent example of a student group to be formed by Stein Scholars. Last year, Steins launched Fordham Public Defenders, and in previous years, YouthLaw and Farm to Fordham, to name a few.