Dear LLS Alumni,
I write to update you about a troubling incident on April 16 and to express my gratitude to the many community members who have reached out with concern and support during this difficult time.
During and after an event hosted by the Jewish Law Students Association, our community witnessed conduct that was inconsistent with our institutional values and mission, and that was incredibly painful. I am deeply saddened to report that community members were subjected to an outburst of antisemitic insults, as well as other abhorrent and disruptive speech associated with religious discrimination, racism, misogyny, and attacks on personal appearance. My most recent community message dated April 26 provides more information about the incident and the steps we are taking in response.
I want to reiterate, as I have done in messages to faculty, staff, and students, that antisemitism has no place in our society, let alone on our campus. We remain steadfast in our commitment against all forms of discrimination and harassment, as well as our emphasis on training lawyers who adhere to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism in the face of difference.
In the 23 years that I have been at LLS, countless faculty, staff, students, and alumni have shared with me that they were drawn here because of our institutional commitment to advancing justice, including increasing access to education and the legal profession for those groups who have suffered discrimination and marginalization in our society. This commitment shaped the very foundation of LLS at the outset: Cooperation between Catholic and Jewish communities ensured that our law school would be open to those who were excluded by other schools because of their religion, race, or ethnicity; and the founding of our school as an evening program prioritized access for those who otherwise could not have afforded to go to law school. This foundation, upon which we have continued to build, has allowed us to celebrate a diverse community that reflects the diversity in Los Angeles and the world.
We constantly strive to deliver concretely on our commitments to antidiscrimination and the promotion of justice, and we are working on ways to bolster these commitments — including improving education around student social engagement and advocacy, adapting our existing antidiscrimination training to ensure responsiveness to emerging challenges, and increasing emphasis on practical tools for helping students navigate difficult conversations with compassion and civility. We are also proud of how so many of our students — together with faculty and others in our community — have engaged and will continue engaging in difficult dialogue on complex and controversial issues. We know that this engagement is core to LLS.
To those of you who have reached out to express your concern after the recent incident: thank you. In such a difficult moment, it is uplifting to feel the strength of our shared commitment to our community’s well-being and to our justice mission.
It is incumbent on us to use this moment to take stock of the fundamental values that have guided us so far and upon which we can rely as we chart a path forward in increasingly turbulent times. As LLS alumni, you already know that the law school has a proud tradition of education and advocacy that centers on the dignity of every person and instills an ethic of service for others. These values will anchor us as we address the impacts of this incident so that we learn from one another with respect and emerge stronger and more unified in our mission.
Thank you for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Brietta R. Clark
Interim Dean and Senior Vice President
Appointed the next Fritz B. Burns Dean effective June 2024
Professor of Law and J. Rex Dibble Fellow