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Dear Members of the Northwestern Pritzker Law Community, 

Earlier today, President Schill shared a statement with the Northwestern University community regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Like President Schill, I strongly disagree with the decision, which upends longstanding precedent and disregards systemic racial inequality. I am saddened and angered by this step backward. 

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, like Northwestern University, remains fully committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion through legally permissible means. As I stated together with other Big Ten Law School deans, these are core values of our law schools, our universities, the American Bar Association, and the Association of American Law Schools. 

Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is crucial for law schools and the legal profession. Exposing future lawyers and legal professionals to diverse viewpoints and experiences is critical preparation for their future work. Increasing access to the legal profession is deeply needed in a society with longstanding educational inequality, systemic barriers to justice, and profound access to justice gaps. 

We have been working closely with the University and participating in its working group in preparation for this decision. In the coming days, we will collaborate with the University and our faculty, staff, students, and alumni to analyze the Supreme Court ruling and develop a concrete path forward for our Law School. We are committed to advancing initiatives allowed by law to further develop outreach, pipelines, and partnerships and to support greater access to legal education. 

We would like to invite all members of our Law School community to our interdisciplinary program on “The Future of Affirmative Action,” which will take place on Friday, July 7 at 3 p.m. CT. Register ›

Leading experts from Northwestern Pritzker Law and Northwestern University include:

• Ronald Allen, John Henry Wigmore Professor of Law
• Martha Biondi, Lorraine H. Morton Professor of African American Studies & Professor of History
• Bryan Brayboy, Dean and Carlos Montezuma Professor of Education and Social Policy, School of Education and Social Policy
• Anthony Chen, Associate Professor of Sociology and Political Science
• Paul Gowder, Associate Dean of Research & Intellectual Life and Professor of Law
• Annie Kastanek, Partner, Appellate & Supreme Court Practice, Jenner & Block
• Jamelia Morgan, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Racial & Disability Justice
• Hari Osofsky, Dean and Myra and James Bradwell Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (moderator)

In addition, the Big 10 Law Schools have collaborated on two webinars that will take place on July 5 and 6 at 12:30 pm CT: “The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Cases: Big Ten Experts Analyze the Opinions.” Associate Dean Gowder will be representing Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Register ›

Our commitment to the critical importance of a diverse student body and to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment is unchanged by this ruling. We have work to do, even more so after today’s decision. 

Sincerely,
Dean Hari Osofsky

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