A law school of varying colors

Shawbong Fok

Walk along one of the fluorescent-lighted hallways of Whittier Law

School in Costa Mesa and you will see a row of wood-framed pictures,

listing its graduates, year by year in chronological order.

At the end of the row, there is the 2003 graduating class frame,

in which you see names like Robina Ali, Man Thi Nguyen, Horacio De La

Vega, Bradford Cormany Beckett and Jameika Williams.

Such diversity underscores the recent change in the legal

profession, historically the bastion of white males, according to

Robert Wylie, associate dean of Whittier Law School. The change is

perhaps best exemplified by Whittier Law School, the second most

diverse American Bar Assn.-approved law school -- there are 187 of

them -- according to a recent survey by U.S. News and World Report.

Whittier Law School’s student body today includes a 21% Asian, 7%

black, 1% Native American and 13% Latino population. Being immersed

in a diverse learning climate is critical for law students if they

want to understand the multiple perspectives inherent in legal

issues, Wylie said. The study and practice of law entails that one

look at such issues in subtle grays, not clear blacks and whites, he

added.

The nuances in legal issues are further complicated when

practicing law in diverse climates like Southern California, where

more than 80% of Whittier Law School alumni reside.

“Different perspectives are important when one practices law in

global megalopolises like Los Angeles, where an attorney encounters

various cultural and ethnic groups,” said Courtney Adolph, a Los

Angeles-based attorney.

The racially diverse atmosphere at Whittier Law School stems from

the confluence of three historical forces: the law school’s

open-minded, open-door policy, implemented in 1966, when the law

school was founded by Beverly Ruebens; the changing racial makeup of

the Los Angeles metropolis over the past several decades; and, in the

years past, relatively low Law School Admissions Test scores by its

students.

It was Ruebens’ open philosophy that enticed attendance from women

and minorities more so than many other law schools in the nation,

Wylie said, at a time when most law students were white males. In

1975, the law school merged with and started to get influence from

Whittier College, founded by the Quakers in 1887. Whittier College’s

philosophy comes from the Quakers, which is one of openness and

tolerance for all people, Wylie said. Therefore, affirmative action

was implemented in the admissions process.

Los Angeles was essentially an Anglo metropolis in 1960, when more

than 80% of its population was white, according to the Census Bureau.

But it would become the most racially diverse metropolis in the world

in 2000, with a population of 10.4% Asian, 40.3% Latino, 0.9% Native

American, 7.6% black, and 39% white.

Whittier Law School largely taps into that racially rich pool when

drawing law school applicants for admissions.

“I imagine that if we were in Vermont or Wisconsin, it would be

hard to achieve the level of diversity that we have,” Wylie said.

Historically, Whittier Law School has drawn students who

collectively had among the lowest Law School Admissions Test scores

in comparison with those in other American Bar Assn.-approved law

schools, according to the U.S. News and World Report. The 2002

entering class had an average score of 150, in the 47th percentile.

“Lower LSAT scores broadens the ethnic diversity,” Wylie said.

Still, a diverse law school helps the legal community, some

lawyers say.

“To have a diverse law school helps to diversify the legal

profession,” said Stewart Kwoh, a MacArthur fellow and an executive

director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. “Having a

diverse law school provides more legal access and assistance for

minorities and ultimately provides more social justice.”

Whittier Law School has one of the nation’s highest percentages of

Vietnamese-American law students. Many of these students, once they

graduate, return to Little Saigon, the epicenter of the largest

Vietnamese community in the world outside of Vietnam itself, Kwoh

said.

“It is important to increase lawyers in communities like Little

Saigon because there is a shortage of attorneys in Southeast Asian

communities,” Kwoh said.

Others disagree that having a diverse law school helps.

“Diversity is overrated,” said Ethan Pham, a student at Whittier

Law School. “I have not received any benefit from sitting next to an

underrepresented minority. I would have felt better if I was sitting

next to the most qualified academically on the basis of LSAT and GPA.

There is a stereotype that just because you are a certain race that

you are going to have a certain perspective. People should be judged

by the content of their character.”