| A new book profiles the successes of graduates of a diversity program through the law school at the University of Wisconsin -Madison, helping to encourage minority enrollment. The book, "LEO Success Stories," explains the history of the Legal Educational Opportunities program that is dedicated to encourage and increase the number of minority students at UW's Law School. It also includes profiles of more than 60 graduates that have participated in the LEO program and have gone on to lead successful careers in legal professions. The history of LEO traces back to the late 1960s when there were almost no minority law students. "The program really began from the Student Bar Association from a majority of students who said, 'We want a diverse class,'" Assistant Dean of the Law School Carolyn Lazar Butler said, including that many people are unaware of the student activism and think the program originated through affirmative action initiatives. The LEO committee, composed of faculty and students, initially recruited minority students along with selecting and awarding scholarships. But in 1993, it became solely a program to recruit and encourage minority students to attend UW's Law School, according to Professor William Whitford, chairman of the committee for 12 years "I've always believed very strongly in the advantage of diversity for everybody," Whitford said. "Race was just a very sticky issue that America had a difficult time with. I felt I should do what I could." Through LEO, minority students receive scholarships to attend law school, participate in special discussion sections formed by LEO students and faculty and form support networks. Ramona Natera, a 2000 graduate of the UW Law School and currently the director and managing attorney of the Immigrant Project of Wisconsin, was profiled in the book and credits the LEO program as being instrumental to her success. "Had it not been for the LEO program, I would not have been able to afford law school," Natera said. "And the most important part of the LEO program aside from the financial part, is that you didn't feel like you were on your own." Natera was an undergrad at UW and was deciding on where to attend law school when she found out about LEO. "I attended an open house and got to meet [Dean James Thomas] and some of the students, and they were really encouraging," Natera explained. No one from Natera's family had graduated college or gone to grad school, so the encouragement and support she received through LEO enabled her to be the first in her family. Natera and other minority students made up about 25% of law school students, with attempts to increase diversity and the number of minority students each year. The UW Law School has served as the model of diversity within the university itself and nationally. It was one of five law schools recognized in "The National Jurist" in 2004 as "creat[ing] environments that welcome and encourage women and students of color," according to Lazar Butler. "People don't generally think of Wisconsin as a place where there's a lot of diversity, and within the law school we've been very lucky to have a diverse group of students," Lazar Butler added. The main focus of LEO's diversifying efforts is to increase the number of lawyers of color which have historically been under-represented and to educate lawyers with a variety of views made possible through a diverse student body, according to Lazar Butler. And the LEO program has been successful in graduating over 1,000 lawyers of color, with other graduates going on to become the first minorities to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, state appellate court and as president of the State Bar of Wisconsin. The successes of these LEO graduates are important for incoming minority students to see to encourage them as they attend law school, according to Lazar Butler. Natera also encourages incoming and current law students to keep their options open and make connections through LEO and other programs. " Minority students are a really good example of students overall at Madison," Natera said. "We need more programs like the LEO program." |
"LEO success stories" by Melissa Ann Janowski |
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