How do we ensure we are creating a diverse, inclusive environment for all of our students, faculty, staff and alumni? It's a multipronged approach that includes a variety of trainings and activities.
Annual Diversity and Inclusion Program
Each year, we host an annual diversity and inclusion program that addresses current issues concerning diversity and inclusion in the legal community in Cleveland and throughout the nation.
We’ve engaged civil and criminal defense lawyers, government attorneys and the broader legal community in a discussion on how diversity plays a role in police reform efforts and provided suggestions for police reform. Featured speakers included representatives from the local chapters of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), lawyers who represent clients battling mental illness, and other groups.
We’ve also featured executive legal leaders at large corporations, such as American Greetings, who focused on the challenges of being a diverse lawyer working for a large corporation and the importance of diversity in the legal community.
Diversity 360 Training
Students, staff and faculty participate in Diversity 360° training, which increases our capacity to recognize and engage in dialogue among differences and deepens our understanding of how privileged and marginalized groups are treated throughout campus.
The training takes place in collaboration with the Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. In addition to Diversity 360, faculty and staff participate in annual diversity educational sessions.
Diversity Week
Diversity Week is held each winter. There are lunch panels involving local speakers and a student diversity fair, in which representatives from student organizations discuss how they make CWRU's diversity mission statement a reality at the law school.