This past Autumn Quarter, the Latino Law Student Association (LLSA) sent seven delegates to attend the National Latin@ Law Student Association (NLLSA) Conference, which took place at the University of New Mexico School of Law on Oct. 16-18. More than 300 Latin@ law students representing over 30 different law schools in the nation attended. Having sent only one delegate to the national conference in the past two years, LLSA made it a goal to increase the student representation from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
By attending this conference, many OSU law students were able to engage in extracurricular activities outside of the Columbus campus; at the same time, students interacted with others to address the needs of Latin@ law students at a national level and to learn from one another on how to effectuate change in their respective Latin@ communities. Students also participated in community service projects, such as working with local at-risk high school students to discuss their perceptions about education after high school. The conference also featured a career fair, lectures by the New Mexico Chief Justice, and workshops that dealt with issues such as the cultivation of Latin@ leadership, Latin@s in the judiciary, and Latin@ voting rights.
As a chapter-member of NLLSA, LLSA members also had the opportunity to speak on the organization’s behalf and to represent the Mid-Atlantic region, which is composed not only from law schools in Ohio, but from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and others. For many Latin@ law students, this national conference is an integral part in fulfilling their objectives in school, that is, to bring new ideas of change, such as increasing the number of Latin@s in law schools; providing networking and support systems for students; and bringing forth discussion of the legal, social, and political issues that affect Latin@s and communities of color.
Sending this number of delegates to represent Moritz College of Law was unprecedented. In the past years there had been little representation coming from the school, due mainly to the lack of financial support. However, thanks to funding from the Interprofessional Council, the Organization of Hispanic Faculty and Staff, and the University-wide Council of Hispanic Organizations, LLSA was able to get more Latin@ students involved this year to advocate for their own needs as Latin@ law students here in the Midwest.
The NLLSA annual conference is every Latin@ law student’s connection to the larger Latin@ legal community, which in the end helps foster leadership and helps create network opportunities among other Latin@ law students, Latin@ faculty, and Latin@s already in the legal profession. The 2009 annual conference will take place in October in Chicago, Ill.
For more information on LLSA, please contact Renato Manay at manay.1@osu.edu. |
