October 2021, Professor Smith participated in a panel-type discussion sponsored by the Kozyak Minority Mentoring Foundation. The event focused on how to secure mentors, clerkships, scholarships, and fellowships. It was attended by students from FIU, UF, UM, and Stetson. Read the news release here.
September 2021, Professor H.T. Smith was honored by the National Bar Association at its annual meeting with the 2021 Equal Justice Award.
September 2021, Student News item: At this year’s Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) Conference, 3L Jordan Johnally and recent FIU Law alumna, Stephany Montano were invited to attend as fellows for the College of Law’s Olivas Faculty Recruitment Initiative. The FRI aims to provide a resource for law students from non-traditional backgrounds interested in entering the academy.
July 2021, In Student News, an eight-person contingent of FIU Students completed the Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program awarded by the George Mason University Law School's Corley Institute for Diversity & Inclusion Education.
June 2021, Professor H.T. Smith was honored by the Miami Marlins Baseball Team during its South Florida Black History Celebration. The Faculty News entry is here.
May 2021, The ABA has appointed Senior Associate Dean Michelle D. Mason as a member of the Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline for a one-year term commencing with the adjournment of the 2021 Annual Meeting. In this role, Dean Mason will focus on continuing the mission of the Pipeline Council, which is to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the educational pipeline to the legal profession. The FIU Law News item is here.
May 2021, Prof. H.T. Smith spoke with Law360 and the Miami Herald on the death of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Joseph Hackett, the court’s first Black justice.
May 2021, Prof. Choudhury spoke with USA Today about the Biden Administration’s efforts to combat Islamophobia.
April 2021, Professors Phyllis Kotey and Hannah Gorman hosted the virtual panel discussion, “The Verdict’s In -- Now What?” about the Derek Chauvin trial and its ramifications.
April 2021, Professor Roman served as a discussion panelist at Fordham Law in Global Civil Rights: Shared Inspirations. The event was presented by student groups and the school's Center on Race, Law and Justice. It considered civil rights movements in the United States, Northern Ireland, and across the globe. View the FIU News entry and flyer here.
April 2021, Professor Roman spoke at Harvard Law School minority student groups to address diversity in the legal academy. Professor Roman’s talk focused on the Olivas Faculty Recruitment Initiative and how Professor Olivas has been an inspiration to many.
March 2021, Professor Choudhury participated in a webinar at the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations. She addressed the need to protect ... gains in diversity and ... the needs of women of color during the pandemic given the paucity of women of color at the senior ranks of law practice.
March 2021, Professor H.T. Smith presented on Miami’s “Colored Court” during a Black History Month celebration at Miami law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
March 2021, Prof. Osei-Tutu was chosen as a panelist in the 2021 New England Law Review symposium round-table discussion. She examined the issues raised in The Color of Creatorship: Intellectual Property, Race, and the Making of Americans.
March 2021, Professor Choudhury presented at FIU’s CHUE + Asian Studies Program “I’m Not a Virus: A Teach-in on Anti-Asian & Asian American Racism.” Her presentation, "The Shared Stories and Different Experiences of South Asian and Asian Americans" examined "...how South Asian experiences converge and diverge with those of other AAPI groups by first examining the framing of "Asianness" in the United States and then discussing how South Asians have become part of the broader group experiencing similar exclusions even while having distinct histories."
February 2021, Prof. Choudhury presented her work in progress “Law, Islamophobia, and the Racialization of Religion at the Tulane Law faculty workshop held February 22, 2020.
February 2021, FIU Law hosted an HBCU Conference on February 22, 2021. Discussion topics included how to support Black law students’ academic and professional development, fostering diverse and inclusive communities in law schools and law firms, and improving opportunities for hiring, retaining, and supporting Black lawyers early in their careers. Conference hosts are listed at this archived news item.
January 2021, Professor Phyllis Kotey moderated an ABA Panel, “Activate Diversity: Pathways to Equal Justice”. See the event flyer and FIU Law news item here. The ABA posted the full 1:38:56 recording at this url.
2021, Dean Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod serves as the Principal liaison from the College of Law with the Office to Advance Women, Equity and Diversity in support of the University-wide mandate to increase the representation of faculty from historically underrepresented groups.
November 2020, Prof. Howard Wasserman served as a panel member in "A Discussion: Racism and the First Amendment"
October 2020, Professor H.T. Smith Participated on the "Stand Against Racism" Panel on Civic Engagement. The ... YWCA sponsored ... campaign aims to build community among those who work for racial justice by raising awareness and encouraging community members to take action for change.
October 2020, Professor Choudhury participated in Roundtable on Exclusion in the Asian American Community. The event was sponsored by the ABA Civil Rights and Social Justice section.
October 2020, Professor H.T. Smith joined FIU Law Alum Desmond Meade and Miami Dolphins players in a Facebook Live event for a public service announcement about the importance of exercising the right to vote. Watch the PSA here.
October 2020, Professor H.T. Smith participated in a panel discussion on Law Enforcement and Community Policing Reform sponsored by the Broward County Bar Association. Suggestions for reform included a national police misconduct registry, de-escalation training, diversity training, and extreme vetting of police applicants.
August 2020, Prof. Choudhury led a Workshop on Racial Justice in Academia. The workshop brought together over 80 faculty from four continents and across the United States...to discuss the issues of racial inequality in the academy ... and the limits of university diversity and inclusion programs in changing structures of racism.
July 2020, Professor H.T. Smith commemorated the 30th Anniversary of the highly successful Boycott Miami Campaign, where he led an economic boycott after the City of Miami snubbed Nelson Mandela during his local stop of a global tour. The boycott prompted changes increasing economic participation for Black people in the tourism industry.
June 2020, Professor H.T. Smith was featured as a Panelist for the campus-wide live conversation on the George Floyd Murder, FIU Insights: I Can't Breathe — Racial Unrest in America in the Wake of George Floyd’s Death..
May 2020, Prof. Joëlle Anne Moreno was quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, in their article: "A modern posse shot Ahmaud Arbery, Has stand your ground gone too far?"
April 2019, The H.T. Smith Black Law Student Association recognized Professor J. Janewa Osei Tutu at the annual 'Honoring Legends' Reception. Each year, the FIU Law H.T. Smith Black law Student Association (BLSA) selects prominent black attorneys in the Miami legal community to recognize their philanthropic work and also selects a professor to be honored in gratitude for their commitment to the law school student body.
January 2019, FIU Trial Team member Tremaine Hemans mentored at Brownsville Middle School, a predominantly Black Miami middle school with a Law Academy program. Ms. Hemans discussed “Beating the Odds, her inspirational story on overcoming obstacles and forging paths to personal and professional greatness.
April 2017, Prof. Howard Wasserman was quoted in an article in The Atlantic on civil rights lawsuits over police shootings, When the Courts Take Police Officers at Their Word.
May 2016, Professor Wasserman authored The Uncertain Hope of Body Cameras in Ferguson's Fault Lines : the race quake that rocked a nation, which covers the police shooting of Michael Brown. The book is published by the American Bar Association.
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This discussion focuses on the Just Mercy film and think-tank on what we are doing and can do in the future to address the issues of our criminal justice system.
The discussion is hosted by FIU Law and Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR) with an introduction from Antony Page, dean of the FIU College of Law. Phyllis Kotey, director of Externship and Pro Bono Program, FIU Law Clinic, led the discussion.
Panelists:
Herman Lindsey – Just Mercy/Represent Justice Surrogate, Witness to Innocence Board Member and Florida death row exoneree no. 23
Carleen Vincent-Robinson – Senior instructor and associate chair, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, FIU Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs
Hannah Gorman – Deputy director, Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR), FIU College of Law
Watch the discussion below. Panel discussion questions can be found here.
February 2022, The COL Diversity & Inclusion Committee hosted Seeing The Law Through Our Eyes, a panel discussion on the need for diversity and inclusion in law school and the field of law.
October 2020, Professor Wendy Greene of Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, presented her rewritten opinion in Rogers v. American Airlines. Her work examines black women race and sex discrimination in private and public sectors.
March 2020, the FIU College of Law hosted Professor Stephen Rushin, of Loyola Chicago School of Law to Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall as part of the Faculty Workshop Series. Professor Rushin presented his work, An Empirical Assessment of Pretextual Stops and Racial Profiling now published in the Stanford Law Review. The workshop video can be seen at the library's eCollections repository.
October, 2019, Nancy Staudt, Dean of the Washington University-St. Louis School of Law, presented the Fifth Decanal Lecture: Five Years After Ferguson: Lessons Learned and Mistakes Made. This work examines how, located just 12 miles from Ferguson, Missouri, Washington University has learned many important lessons over the last 5 years. With social change, social justice, and community partnerships now playing an important role in the revised academic mission, many are calling the institution: Washington University FOR St. Louis rather than, simply, Washington University IN St. Louis.
April 2019, Professor Tanya K. Hernández, of Fordham University School of Law, presented a working draft of her work Multiracials and Civil Rights: Mixed-Race Stories of Discrimination. This work examines what it means for civil rights law when mixed-race persons experience racial discrimination.
October 2015, presentation by U. Maryland law professor Russell McClain discussing his article, “How Law Schools Are Failing Minority Students: The Insidious Consequences of Ignoring Stereotype Threat”. Prof. McClain was hosted by the H.T. Smith Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA), the Women’s Law Society, the Hispanic Law Student Association and the Academic Excellence Program.