Law Students Emphasize Diversity in Dean of Students Search

With current Harvard Law School Dean of Students Ellen M. Cosgrove set to depart for Yale Law School this summer, members of Law School student groups—including affinity groups and the Board of Student Advisers—are working with the school’s human resources office and an outside consulting firm to formulate the qualifications for Cosgrove’s replacement.

Namely, students involved in the process said that they hope to hire a new dean who has had professional experience with diversity and inclusion. At this stage in the process, students said they have worked with the human resources office and Diversified Search, the consulting firm that is leading the search for the new dean, to develop a job description for the position. Students and Marie H. Bowen, chief human resources officer at the Law School, also said students may later be involved in the interview process once candidates have been identified.

The dean of students at Harvard Law School is responsible for extracurricular and out of classroom aspects of the Law student experience. Cosgrove also serves as a Title IX officer at the Law School, which has recently started implementing a new set of Title IX procedures which break from Harvard’s centralized framework.

Students who are participating in the search process said last semester’s protests and activism in response to the non-indictment of police officers who killed unarmed black men, Eric Garner and Michael Brown, brought to the forefront the importance of diversity and inclusion at the Law School.

In December, a number of student groups, called the “Harvard Law School Affinity Group Coalition,” co-signed an open letter criticizing Dean of the Law School Martha L. Minow and the Law School administration for their response to the events in Ferguson and Staten Island. Student groups part of the coalition include Harvard Law School Lambda, an LGBTQ group, and Harvard Middle Eastern Law School Students Association, among others.

“That’s something we really think is important, is finding a new dean of students who will make sure the diversity and inclusion issues that Harvard Law students have been expressing are a priority to them,” said Leland S. Shelton, the president of the Harvard Black Law Students Association.

Student leaders from groups that are not part the affinity coalition, including Isabel J. Broer, the president of the Board of Student Advisers, also said issues of diversity and inclusion are primary concerns in the search process.

“We’re asking a lot of our perfect candidate, but this year has really made very clear that Harvard Law School has some work to do on making this community one that is welcoming to all students,” Broer said.

But just how to ensure that student concerns convert into an ideal dean of students remains to be determined.

“That’s the million dollar question,” said Rena T. Karefa-Johnson, a co-president of Students for Inclusion, a student group at the Law School that focuses on the common concerns of different affinity groups.

Bowen said incorporating student input and working with a consulting firm is a “unique” characteristic of this search.

“We’re really doing a significant amount of outreach because of the importance of the position for the student experience here,” Bowen said.

—Staff writer Andrew M. Duehren can be reached at andy.duehren@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @aduehren.