What a Year for the Launch of Our Law School Chapters

UCLA LawThe Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law launched law student chapters that will fill an important gap in American legal education, offer the opportunities that members seek, and provide a resource to other members of the university community.   Many law students are eager to combine their legal training with their interest in Jewish civil rights issues, including fighting the contemporary resurgence of global and campus anti-Semitism.  Some students are interested in educational programming, while others want to develop their research and advocacy skills.  Some undergraduate students feel embattled by political controversies at their institutions, such as movements to boycott the State of Israel, and would like support from law students who are trained in applicable legal areas.  Few law schools offer meaningful activities for students who share our mission.  To be sure, some schools have active Jewish law students’ associations that provide important social, cultural and perhaps religious activities, but they seldom provide much substantive legal programming. 

With the start of the 2013-2014 school year, LDB began with the launch of a law school chapter at UCLA .  With this prestigious chapter under our belts, it only started the ball rolling.  We continued with a fruitful launch at American University also in the Fall, followed by the outstanding launches of both University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern University in the Spring.

Not only have these chapters been able to get off the ground, but they have had influential programming.   Our UCLA chapter successfully defeated the divestment vote against Israeli by combining efforts with the undergraduate students.  UCLA then went on to host Professor Amos Guiora to discuss his involvement in the Middle East peace process.  UCLA, along with our UPenn and American chapters had successful training sessions with our founder, Kenneth L. Marcus.  In these sessions, they were educated on the current state of anti-Semitism and how to be civil rights advocates.  We are only anticipating continued programming for upcoming Fall semester, including more collaboration with undergraduate students.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the Law School Initiative was our first annual National Law Student Conference.   In early January, we hosted law students from around the country in Los Angeles to receive education, training, and networking opportunities in the areas of campus anti-Semitism, pro-Israel advocacy, and civil rights law.  We can’t wait to have an even bigger conference this upcoming winter.

Finally, let’s get ready for two new chapters that will launch in this Fall at the University of Virginia and Fordham University.  We are so excited and can’t wait to get them started!