University of Toronto new law school initiative hopes to attract more black applicants

BY BRITTNEY CHANNER

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their new year; accomplishing all the goals you have made for yourself. This week I want to speak about a great program initiated by the faculty of law at the University of Toronto with hopes of attracting more black students to apply to law school and succeed.

Last Tuesday, it was announced by the University of Toronto that they are launching a new program to increase the number of black law students. The program entitled, The Black Future Lawyers program is a close collaboration with the university, the faculty of law, the black students association and the black legal alumni; all with efforts to increase the black student enrollment within the law school. As a fellow law enthusiast myself, I can personally attest to the amount of times I have heard the phrase, “The law needs more colour”. As a matter of fact, over the summer, I wrote an article with that exact phrase as my title explaining the importance of colour in our legal professions.

A lack of black and brown faces amongst Canada’s distinguished laws schools continues to be a constant struggle every year. With either decreasing enrollment or lack of substantial resources, many students who are enticed by the law, regretfully turn their eyes away from pursuing a legal education. According to the Ontario Law School Application self-declared profile information, black students represent one percent of the students entering law school. However, the University of Toronto has made sufficient changes and hopes that their new initiatives will provide black students with the confidence and knowledge needed to succeed in the profession.

One of the several focuses of this program is to provide black undergraduate students who may be considering a legal education with access to workshops, information sessions, and financial aid advice along with mentoring from distinguished black lawyers and judges. Additionally, it has been established that the program will assist in teaching students about the benefits of law and explain what a career in it can provide. The program will also be of support to students who do get accepted into law school and need guidance on the necessary steps to take regarding class registration, available scholarships and generally trying to navigate the way as a law student.

The program is set to launch as of next year and along with having the regular academic and extra-curricular requirements needed to apply, black students can also provide an additional personal statement as part of their application which will then be reviewed by a minimum of three members of the black community. I must say, I commend U of T for actually creating a way to minimize the gap that has been created within higher learning by finding ways for marginalized and disadvantaged students to have a chance to partake in their profession of choice. I’ll be interested to see if other Canadian law schools follow suit and see how successful and beneficial the implementation of this initiative actually is. Until then, I guess we shall just wait and see.

On a side note, one of my personal goals for this year was to be honest and authentic with my feelings as I have always found that an area of struggle. When I first started writing for the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, I always told myself, that I would cease writing the day I either became physically overwhelmed or lost my passion. Unfortunately, that day has come and this article that I write for you today will be my last. There are a number of reasons as to why I decided to take a step back, but without getting too deep into it all, I needed to take a moment to reflect on my life and figure out how I can passionately convey strong and meaningful messages without feeling depleted. I too also find that my mental health is not in the greatest of states and for that I will be using my time going forward to focus on practicing self-love.

I would like to thank all the readers who at any point sat down and listened to what I had to say, it means a lot. I hope at some point in my writing, I inspired you, educated you, or challenged you to think in a way that is different from your own. My goal in life will always be to stand up for social justice in all its forms and I hope that in my time writing, I caused you to do the same. And so I end with the cliché, this is not goodbye, this is just, see you later.

Sincerely,

Brittney A. Channer-Lawyer to Be