The Black Law Students Association held their annual conference on April 6. This year’s theme, “Affirmatively Black,” focused on reflection and discussion around the United States Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard, which struck down race-based admissions policies as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Through panels, group discussion, and a keynote address from Michael Kippins, Lauren Sampson Fellow in 2023 at Lawyers for Civil Rights, the conference explored the decision’s present and future impact on Black students’ ability to navigate law school admissions, a legal education, and a career in the legal field.
Additional panelists included Jenna Cobb, an assistant clinical professor at BC Law and director of the Boston College Defenders; Shawn McShay, the assistant dean for graduate enrollment management at BC Law; Andrea Akinbola, a junior business law associate at Goodwin Procter LLP; and Theresa Coney, the racial equity statewide training lead for the Committee for Public Counsel Services.
The conference was co-sponsored by Goodwin Procter LLP.
