Introduction
Welcome. This guide seeks to highlight and memorialize actions taken by the FIU College of Law community in regards to racial and social justice. It also publicizes long standing College of Law programs that now gain increased urgency and importance. Finally, you'll find local resources and starting points for engagement and research on the subject.
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Statement from President Rosenberg
'We Stand on the Side of Justice...' (excerpts)
Dear FIU Family,
"...We must always stand on the side of justice and accountability as we mourn together for the victims of injustice...
At FIU we have a strong Black Student Union (BSU) and I appreciate the thoughtfulness I see in their leadership. I want to assure BSU and all students, faculty and staff at FIU that we are here for them astride a value system that promotes hope and opportunity and rejects violence and hate...
I call on all Panthers to take personal responsibility for how we react to the events of the past few days and look for small and big ways to make a difference, to lend a hand, to bring light..."
(read President Rosenberg's full statement, FIU News | May 30, 2020)..
Position Statement from Dean Page, College of Law
'Standing in Solidarity...' (excerpts)
Dear FIU Law Community,
"Like so many others, I am horrified, angered, and profoundly saddened by yet more unnecessary loss of life. ... More than fifty years removed from the height of the civil rights movement, and yet here we still are. The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it has not bent nearly far enough or fast enough....
For America’s law schools, long championed for their affinity for fairness and justice, our responsibility is particularly important. Acknowledging those voices demanding accountability and change simply isn’t enough. ... Lawyers have a disproportionate influence on our society’s trajectory and on how moral priorities are framed. Among other things, we must act with greater intentionality to develop an active, engaged, and more representative legal profession that will better advance justice...
... FIU Law’s Student Bar Association put it well: “We are here to do better because George Floyd and countless others deserved better.” Please know I remain committed to these goals and hope that you will join me in greatly increasing our efforts to strive towards them...."
(read Dean Page's full message, in FIU Law News | June 2, 2020).