We received a tip this morning that black law students at the University of Chicago Law School apparently would not allow white students to attend a meeting. University of Chicago Law School Dean Michele Richards sent out this email to the law school community:
Dear Students,I heard about this unfortunate incident from several other students, and I went down to the classroom to address the issue directly with the sponsors of the event during the lunch hour. The leaders of the student organization just left my office, and reassured me that it was not their intention to inappropriately exclude their fellow classmates. They also, both personally and on behalf of their organization, sincerely apologized for any hurt feelings that resulted from the unfortunate remark and now clearly understand our policies that prohibit such exclusion.
I wanted to be sure that everyone understands that from the Law School’s perspective, it was absolutely inappropriate to restrict the event in this manner. Our student organizations and the events they sponsor are funded by your law student Fees and are required to be open to any law student who wishes to participate. We try to make this clear to all student organization leaders at the beginning of the year, but want to re-emphasize this once again.
Most importantly, it is critical that we all do our best to treat each other respectfully in this community at all times, and err in the direction of being inclusive rather than exclusive. When challenges like this arise, I hope all of us can view them as opportunities to learn from our mistakes and to be forgiving of each other. I ask all of you to do your best to put this behind you, and to focus on the exams that are ahead. Please feel free to stop by my office if you would like to talk about this matter or any other concerns.
All the best,
Dean Richardson