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 Diversity Speaks: Distinguished Speaker Series
Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman, Federal Trade Commission
October 21, 2015
The Dean’s Diversity Council and Porzio Bromberg & Newman, P.C. welcomed Chairwoman Edith Ramirez of the Federal Trade Commission at the 2015 Diversity Speaks lecture series. She spoke about her focus on the privacy implications of electronic data and the need for transparency from companies collecting such information. Chairwoman Ramirez avidly advocated for comprehensive consumer-privacy legislation. She also highlighted the FTC’s initiative focusing on how fraud and scams target certain vulnerable communities. Chairwoman Ramirez, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the first Latina to oversee the nearly 100-year-old commission.
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 Diversity Speaks: Distinguished Speaker Series
Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
April 10, 2014
Seton Hall Law welcomed Justice Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court (pictured) to Seton Hall Law as keynote lecturer for Diversity Speaks, an annual lecture series co-sponsored by the Dean's Diversity Council and law firm Porzio, Bromberg & Newman P.C. to explore issues of diversity in the legal profession. Justice Sotomayor shared insights from her bestselling memoir, My Beloved World, and was the guest of honor at a series of receptions and talks with students, including those participating in the New Jersey Law & Education Empowerment Project (N J LEEP). That evening, Justice Sotomayor presided along with Judge Michael Chagares and Judge Julio Fuentes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at the final round of the Eugene Gressman Appellate Moot Court Competition.
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 Paulette Brown '76, Partner at Locke Lord Edwards & Chief Diversity Officer
2013
Paulette Brown '76, is unanimously elected as the President of the American Bar Association for the 2015-16 term. She is the first woman of color to serve in the role.
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Diversity Speaks: Distinguished Speaker Series
Exoneration and Wrongful Convictions
September 23, 2013
The Dean’s Diversity Council and Porzio Bromberg & Newman, P.C. hosted a program focusing on the issue of exoneration and wrongful convictions. Speakers includes David Shephard, a New Jersey DNA exonerated defendant (pictured, left); Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation for the Innocence Project; and Lesley Risinger, Director of the Last Resort Exoneration Project at Seton Hall Law (pictured, right). The event was co-sponsored by the Black Law Students Association and the Latin American Law Students Association.
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 Diversity Speaks: Distinguished Speaker Series
Challenges in Achieving a Post-Racial Community in the Age of Obama
September 19, 2012
At this inaugural event of Diversity Speaks, sponsored by the Dean's Diversity Council and Porzio Bromberg & Newman P.C., launched this annual lecture series. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice (pictured), discussed the impact of President Barack Obama on our nation’s changing views of minorities and leadership.
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 Diversity Speaks
Partnership with Porzio Bromberg & Newman P.C.
2012
Seton Hall Law and the law firm, Porzio Bromberg & Newman P.C., launch a new lecture series, Diversity Speaks, as a forum to explore diversity, from all facets, within the legal profession. The inaugural speaker is Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race.
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 A Journey Through the Pipeline: Identifying Challenges and Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
March 15, 2012
Academics, practitioners, members of the bench, students and alumni met for an afternoon-long program examining the challenges the legal profession faces as it strives to increase the number of practicing minority attorneys. This “journey” featured presentations on the pipeline, from primary school through law school, followed by the recruitment process and challenges in the workplace. Following panel discussions by such distinguished guests as the Hon. Stuart Rabner, Chief Justice of the New Jersey State Supreme Court (pictured); Seton Hall Law Professor Rachel Godsil; Vielka V. Holness, Director, the Pre Law Institute, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; and Teresa L. Moore, Rutgers-Newark Institute on Education Law and Policy, Center for Urban and Public Service, the program concluded with an examination of the judicial pathway for minority lawyers. Students also benefited from special breakout activities including “speed mentoring” and a roundtable discussion with judicial clerks. The event was co-sponsored by the Dean's Diversity Council, the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Judiciary and McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP.
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 From Implicit Bias to Broader Inclusion in the Legal Profession
February 29, 2012
This Continuing Legal Education event was sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association Standing Committee on Diversity and the Women of Color Subcommittee of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts. Professor Solangel Maldonado moderated a discussion focusing on recognizing, understanding and overcoming implicit bias in the legal profession. Panelists included Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz (ret); Engy Abdelkader, Esq., vice president, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights and legal fellow, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding; and Daniel L. Weiss, Esq., Daniel L. Weiss, LLC, an immigration law practitioner.
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 B.A. to J.D. Pipeline Project sponsored by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT)
November 11, 2011
The B.A. to J.D. Pipeline: Diversifying the Legal Profession initiative is a collaborative effort by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT), the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s University School of Law, the Dean’s Diversity Council at Seton Hall University School of Law and the Center for Diversity in the Legal Profession at City University of New York School of Law. The initiative was presented at a Symposium, Opening Doors: Making Diversity Matter in Law School Admissions Symposium, held at St. John’s. Professor Rachel D. Godsil (pictured) made the opening presentation entitled, "Overcoming Racial Obstacles to Success in Law."
“The goal of the Pipeline Initiative is to explore and ultimately recommend best practices for counseling college students from underrepresented backgrounds to help them present their best selves on a law school application,” said Seton Hall Law Professor Solangel Maldonado, who served on the team that developed the Symposium. “The legitimacy of a legal system depends upon full representation and participation of its citizens. Only by opening the law school doors to students of all backgrounds can we ensure that our legal system reflects the diversity of our country and represents us all."
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 Seton Hall Law students honored by the National Association of Women Judges
2011
Two Seton Hall Law students are honored by the National Association of Women Judges: Chrishana White ’13 (left), is awarded the Equal Access to Justice Scholarship; Megan Altman ’12 is awarded the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholarship.
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 Victor Campos ’13, First Recipient of the prestigious Arent, Fox Diversity Scholarship
2011
Victor Campos ’13 becomes the first recipient of the prestigious Arent, Fox Diversity Scholarship.
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 NJ LEEP's high school seniors head to college
2011
The first cohort of NJ LEEP’s “College Bound” high school seniors head to college, with 10 attending Top 100 schools including Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Stevens Institute of Technology and Drew University. Pictured at left is NJ LEEP graduate Fatimah Jafiq, who attends Bryn Mawr College.
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 Third National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference
Our Country, Our World in a ‘Post-Racial’ Era
September 9-12, 2010
Seton Hall Law hosted this three-day conference, the largest gathering of diverse law faculty in the United States. More than 500 faculty, practitioners, and students from across the country, Canada, and the United Kingdom convened for the four-day conference. The conference fulfilled the promise that the six regional People of Color scholarship conferences—the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Western—made in 1999 to come together approximately every five years to examine and support the role of faculty of color in the teaching of law.
One of the prime highlights of the conference is when Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. (pictured), hosted a discussion facilitated by Professor Michele Goodwin of the University of Minnesota School of Law. The keynote speakers and panelists discussed critical national and global issues including health care, education, immigration, human rights, civil rights, voting rights, judicial nominations, environmental justice, the family in the 21st century, corporate responsibility, legal education, the “war on terror,” federal Indian law, and criminal law. In accordance with the conference theme, Our Country, Our World in a “Post-Racial” Era, the speakers addressed these issues through the lens of legal scholarship that explicitly and implicitly examines the current racial context.
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 Professor Brenda Saunders Hampden, Director of the Summer Institute for Pre-Legal Studies
2010
Professor Brenda Saunders Hampden is honored during the 50th anniversary of the High Point Woolworth’s sit-ins, the first such demonstrations staged by high school students in the United States. Professor Saunders Hampden, a pioneer in the civil rights movement, desegregated High Point, North Carolina’s schools when she was 12 (pictured right, with her sister Lynn), and led the High Point sit-ins at the age of 13.
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 Judge Tahgrid Hikmet
2010
Judge Tahgrid Hikment, the first female judge in Jordan, also the first Arab Muslim to serve as Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, receives the Sandra Day O’Connor Medal of Honor.
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 30th Anniversary Celebration, Summer Institute for Pre-Legal Studies
2010
The Summer Institute for Pre-Legal Studies celebrates its 30th anniversary. Pictured: Sergio Suarez ’15, a participant in the Pre-Legal program and a presenter at the Anniversary celebration.
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 Hany Mawla '98, First Arab-American Muslim, Superior Court in NJ
2010
Diversity Council member, Hany Mawla ’98, is the first Arab-American Muslim to ascend to the Superior Court in the New Jersey.
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 Formation of the Dean's Diversity Council at Seton Hall Law School
2008
Dean Hobbs announces the formation of the Dean’s Diversity Council, an advisory board comprising students, alumni, staff and faculty members who assist the law school administration in implementing its core value of promoting diversity in the legal profession. Professor Solangel Maldonado (pictured, center) is appointed founding chair.
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 Support for the New Jersey Legal Education Empowerment Program (NJLEEP)
2006
Seton Hall Law supports the launch of the New Jersey Legal Education Empowerment Program (NJ LEEP), which exposes middle school and high school inner-city youth to careers in the law and focuses on preparation for college through programs held both during the school year and in the summer. Pictured: Craig Livermore, Founder and Executive Director of NJ LEEP (center) with NJ LEEP students, Summer 2008.
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 Dorothy Day Scholarship established
2005
The Dorothy Day Scholarship is established, awarded to highly qualified students from disadvantaged backgrounds that are underrepresented in the legal profession.
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 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.)
2004
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.) presents the Sandra Day O’Connor Medal of Honor to Judge Maryanne Trump Barry of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
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 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
2003
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, then a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, speaks at Seton Hall Law School.
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 Karol Corbin Walker ’86, first African American and first female President of New Jersey State Bar Association
2003
Karol Corbin Walker ’86 becomes the first African American, and the first female President of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
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 Haiti Rule of Law Project established
2002
Dean Patrick E. Hobbs establishes the Haiti Rule of Law project, cementing a close relationship between Seton Hall Law and L’Ecole Superieure Catholique de Droit de Jérémie, a law school located in Jérémie, Haiti.
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 Marie White Bell ‘73, first African American female, Superior Court of NJ (Burlington County)
1998
Marie White Bell ‘73 becomes the first African American female appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey in Burlington County.
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 Judge Shirley A. Tolentino ’71, first African American woman, Superior Court of the State of New Jersey
1984
Appointed by Governor Thomas Kean, Judge Shirley A. Tolentino ’71 (1943-2010) becomes the first African American woman to ascend to the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey.
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 Pre-Legal Studies Summer Institute established at Seton Hall law
1979
Seton Hall Law is chosen by the State of New Jersey to build the SummerInstitute for Pre-Legal Studies, for college students with socio-economic and/or educational disadvantages and an interest in the law, with the primary purpose of increasing the number of disadvantaged students who apply and gain admission to accredited law schools. Professor Brenda Saunders Hampden is named Director of the Institute.
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 Legal Education Opportunity (LEO) Program launched at Seton Hall Law
1977
Seton Hall Law launches the Legal Education Opportunity (LEO) Program, an academic support program committed to the success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds during law school and in the legal profession. The LEO cohort of 2011 is pictured with Professor Shavar Jeffries, Seton Hall Law Center for Social Justice (far right).
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 Seton Hall Law founded and Miriam T. Rooney, appointed as Dean
1951
Seton Hall Law is founded. Miriam T. Rooney appointed dean of Seton Hall Law, the first woman to become dean of an accredited law school in the United States.
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The Honorable Zoila Cassanova Appointed Director of Seton Hall Law School's Legal Education Opportunity Program
