Program offers no definition for diversity

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A single mother, a gay man, and an Asian American were all applicants to the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Diversity Clerkship Program this year.

When it comes to defining diversity, the State Bar prefers a broad approach.

In 2007, the organization renamed its Minority Clerkship Program in an effort to expand the scope of first-year law students from Marquette and the University of Wisconsin who may qualify for the summer employment opportunity.

According to Program Chair Roger Flores, the evolution of the program has allowed students with broader backgrounds to connect with law firms this year, rather than just a majority of minority students.

But by expanding the criteria, program officials wrestled with a key question — what makes a student diverse?

“Because this is our first year operating under a new program and new guidelines, we were feeling our way along,” said Flores. “We’re really in uncharted waters here.”

Looser Guidelines

Prior to the name change, the program specifically referenced students who successfully completed their first year of law school and who are “African American, Hispanic American, Asian American or Native American” as eligible applicants.

Materials also indicated that “members of other historically disadvantaged groups are considered on a case-by-case basis.”

Flores admitted that the inclusion of specific ethnicities and races in earlier materials was a “mistake,” but also noted that in years past, more than just students who would have been considered minorities applied for the clerkships.

Attorney Steven A. Levine even championed for specific language in new program materials to state that students with disabilities are eligible for the program.

“All I’d like is four or five words to say the program includes students with disabilities,” said Levine, who has multiple sclerosis.

The current standards simply require that the students be “of diverse backgrounds” and in their first year at either Marquette or UW and good standing.

Flores said that the current guidelines are intentionally broad, so as to not initially exclude any potential candidates.

“Kind of the irony here with his request is by specifically including persons with disabilities, it almost seems to be going backwards rather than leaving the qualifications as broad as possible,” said Flores, who added that at least one UW student with a disability was successfully matched with a law firm during this year’s session.

Not Automatic

At the same time, Flores said just because a student is a minority or has a disability, that does not mean he or she will gain admission to the program.

Unlike past years, only applicants who passed an initial review by Flores, Diversity Outreach Committee (DOC) Chair Athenee P. Lucas and DOC Vice Chair Arthur T. Phillips, got an in-person interview with a panel of attorneys.

The panel made the final determination as to who would be matched up with employers for this summer.

“It certainly wasn’t a cut-and-dried process,” said Flores, who noted that several students of color did not make the initial cut. “We don’t have pictures to go by, so a lot is based on their personal statements and grades.”

This year, 24 students of the 58 who applied from both law schools were successfully matched with one of 21 participating law firms, in-house sponsors or government agencies.

Jane Heymann, assistant dean for career services at UW Law School, said a number of students who were neither ethnic nor racial minorities applied to the program this year.

“Many of the students who came to the informational session this fall did not appear to be students of color, so it is my impression that the students knew that the State Bar was using the term ‘diverse’ in the broadest possible way,” said Heymann.