Integrating Doctrine & Diversity Pop-Up Event

Moving Beyond the Box & Re-considering the Criminal History Question on Law School Admission Applications

Drawing upon the experience of faculty from across the country, Integrating Doctrine and Diversity is a collection of essays with practical advice, written by faculty for faculty, on specific ways to integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into the law school curriculum. Chapters will focus on subjects traditionally taught in the first-year curriculum (Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Legal Writing, Legal Research, Property, Torts) and each chapter will also include a short annotated bibliography curated by a law librarian. With submissions from over 40 scholars, the collection is the first of its kind to offer reflections, advice and specific instruction on how to integrate issues of diversity and inclusions into first-year doctrinal courses.

In 2021, RWU Law began sponsoring an ongoing Integrating Doctrine & Diversity Speaker Seriesin collaboration with CUNY School of Law and JURIST. Each previous installment has been attended by hundreds of legal education professionals from across the country.

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Moving Beyond the Box & Re-considering the Criminal History Question on Law School Admission Applications

3:00 - 4:30 PM EST - Zoom Webinar

At least two law schools in the United States no longer ask prospective students about any criminal history or justice involvement in their law school admissions applications. Is this a safety issue? Is this a diversity issue? This 90-minute session will feature speakers from a range of law school administrative offices discussing the utility, wisdom, and possible future of these criminal background inquiries.

This event is co-sponsored by Roger Williams University School of Law, City University of New York School of Law, George Washington University Law School, Berkeley Law, and JURIST.

Meet the Panelists

Carmia N. Caesar is the Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at George Washington University Law School. Carmia Caesar joined GW Law in 2021 as the inaugural Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Associate Dean Caesar brings extensive experience in programming, counseling, and experiential learning having served as the Director of Externships and Experiential Learning and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and Howard University School of Law. She was on the Diversity Committees at both law schools, working to expand the DEI infrastructure and programming that met the unique needs of both communities. While at Georgetown, Associate Dean Caesar created the Component Classroom, a field placement seminar model that maximized teaching resources and expanded the program to serve hundreds of JD students each year. At Howard, in addition to externship teaching, she taught Introduction to the American Legal System in the LLM program and Social Justice Lawyering.

In practice, Associate Dean Caesar represented clients in civil rights, domestic violence, and housing matters; and at the intersection of education and the juvenile criminal system.

She is a graduate of Pomona College and Harvard Law School and was a Leadership Fellow with the Northern California Center of the Coro Foundation.

Gayla Jacobson is the Executive Director of Admissions at CUNY School of Law. She has been at the law school since 2010 and thinks she has the best job in the world: Connecting change-makers with the tools to reimagine the legal system. Prior to coming to CUNY Law, she worked at both University of California College of Law, San Francisco, and Southwestern Law school in Los Angeles. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and International Studies from Pitzer College, studying abroad in Shanghai, China.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Baruch College where she was initiated into the Pi Alpha Alpha honor society.

Gayla Jacobson founded the National Consortium of Public Interest Law Schools and currently serves on the Cystic Fibrosis Parent/Family Advisory Committee. She is actively involved in the Law School Admissions Council and co-chairs the Staff Council and Admissions Committees at CUNY Law.

Lorraine Lalli is Associate Dean of Student Life and Operations at Roger Williams University School of Law where she works with senior university and law school administration to support law students in their academic, professional and personal goals. She is a member of the School of Law’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan Steering Committee. 

Lorraine is a magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College, and Roger Williams University School of Law. She is admitted to the state bars of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and practiced with Brown Rudnick, LLP in Boston before returning to her alma mater as the inaugural Director of Diversity & Outreach. In this role, Dean Lalli energized existing programs designed to improve the academic experience and success of students from diverse backgrounds.

Dean Lalli is active in a variety of organizations. She serves on the board of the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals, Mt. Hope Learning Center, One Neighborhood Builders, and Inspiring Minds.  She previously served on the Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Committee and the Providence School Board. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 

Marc Ramirez is a public defender in the Bronx.  For the last six years he’s represented people accused of all levels of offenses in the Bronx.  He advocates for his clients at every level of their criminal case from arraignment through resolution. 

He earned his J.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, with a concentration in Social Justice, Equality & Civil Rights.   Graduating from law school was the culmination of decades of hard work, answered prayers, and a dream born in the law library of a federal prison.  While in college, Marc was arrested for drug charges.  The outcome of that case was an almost twenty-year sentence for a non-violent, first-time, drug offense committed at 18 years old.  While in prison Marc vowed that he would not let the sentence destroy him or his spirit.  He did everything he could to better himself and his surroundings.  Since his release Marc has continued to help others by dedicating his legal career to the public interest.   

Kristin Theis-Álvarez is the dean of admissions and financial aid at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She graduated with high honors from UC Berkeley, earning her BA in rhetoric and Native American studies. She went on to earn her JD from Stanford University Law School. From 2006 to 2007, Theis-Álvarez worked as coordinator for the Building Young Minds Scholarship Program for Habitat for Humanity East Bay, where she designed and managed a college scholarship program serving low-income high school students. Just prior to her current position, she was the associate director of admissions for outreach and recruitment and then the director of admissions and scholarship programs at Berkeley Law.

Theis-Álvarez began her service to LSAC as a member of the Newcomers Conference Planning Committee and has since served on the Services and Programs Committee, Board of Trustees, and the Summer Workshop Planning Work Group. She also chaired the Services and Programs Committee (2013-2015) and the Annual Meeting and Educational Conference Planning Work Group (2018). She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She has presented at the LSAC Annual Meeting multiple times in recent years, as well as at other events such as the University of California FirstGen Conference. Theis-Álvarez serves in several other leadership positions, including as a board member of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and on the UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion’s Native American Advisory Council.

Meet the Moderator

Nicole P. Dyszlewski is one of the editors of Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion and Equity in the Law School Classroom. She currently serves as the Director of Special Programs, Academic Affairs at RWU Law and as an adjunct professor. She received a B.A. from Hofstra University, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. She is a member of the Massachusetts State Bar and the Rhode Island State Bar. Her areas of interest are mass incarceration, access to justice, and systems of race and gender inequality in law. Nicole was the 2020 recipient of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Volunteer Service Award and the 2015 recipient of the AALL Emerging Leader Award.
Twitter:@LibrariaNicole