During the month of February, Elon Law's Black Law Students Association (BLSA) celebrated Black History Month by sending out weekly emails to the law school community paying homage to African Americans who had a positive impact on the social, legal, and economic conditions of the lives of Americans today.
Individuals featured in the email series included: Attorney Reginald F. Lewis, the first African American to build a billion dollar company; Carter G. Woodson, considered the father of Black History Month, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, and the second African American to earn a Ph. D from Harvard University after W.E.B. DuBois; the four men who began the sit-ins at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960 – Ezell Blair Jr., (Jibrell Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joe McNeil, and David Richmond; and the twelve lawyers who founded the National Bar Association, an organization designed to address problems that existed within the African-American community and to serve as a forum for African-American legal professionals.
BLSA also celebrated Black History Month by getting the law school community involved in Black History Trivia. Every Thursday students had the opportunity to answer various questions about the history and progression of African Americans for a chance to earn points towards winning a bookstore gift card. There were two winners, law students Maggy Vaughn and Alex Walton.
Lu Johnson, President of BLSA at Elon Law, said the organization’s activities during Black History Month were meant to educate the law school community about unique aspects of U.S. history.
“Since we are all lawyers in training we should be sure to educate ourselves on our history, so that we can continue to use the legal system as it has been used in the past, to enact positive change,” Johnson said.
BLSA also sponsored Elon Law’s MLK forum in January, and concluded Black History Month by co-sponsoring Diversity Day, on February 27, with Elon Law’s Admissions Office.
Diversity Day provides information to prospective law students about the law school application process and about what is possible with a law degree, conveying how others have used the degree in the past to make a positive impact. This was the message that the two keynote speakers at Diversity Day, Judge Denise Hartsfield and Duke University professor Timothy Tyson.
By Lu Johnson, L ’11
