Document Type
Essay
Publication Date
Winter 2007
Abstract
At the beginning of the 2005-2006 academic year there was, what many viewed, as a comparatively bounteous crop of African-American deans of ABA-approved law schools. However, several changes during that year caused the crop to diminish rapidly. At the time of this writing, there are eighteen deans of color at American Bar Association approved law schools within the United States. Of these, fifteen are African-American and two are Latino. Of this number, five African-American deans are deans of law schools associated with historically black universities. These comments address, not necessarily the absolute number of African-American or Latino deans at any one point in time, but rather the implications of the lack of maintaining long-term tenure or extended experience for those of us who choose to pursue such a calling. My focus on African-American and Latino deans, in particular, speaks to several specific concerns regarding historic exclusion; it is in no way a failure to recognize the importance of widespread diversity in academic leadership in legal education.
Recommended Citation
LeRoy Pernell, Reflecting on the Dream of the Marathon Man: Black Dean Longevity and Its Impact on Opportunity and Diversity, 38 U. Tol. L. Rev. 571 (2007)