Here.
Dean Angelique EagleWoman’s Resignation from Lakehead University
Here.
law schools
Reasons for the Relative Invisibility of Indian Law and Policy?
The academic study of American Indian law and policy is, I suspect, not a way to get ahead in the world. Being a highly-regarded Indian law and policy law prof or polisci prof is like being a highly-regarded minor league baseball player.
There was a decent sampling of Indian law profs on the latest survey of top scholars at top 70 law schools, but only a small number of the top 70 law schools even offer Indian law classes on a regular basis, let alone cultivate Indian law scholarship. I think the disinterest in Indian law scholarship in elite law schools contributes in some way to the disinterest in Indian law cases at the appellate level, where a goood number of cases seem to be decided on gut reaction, indicating a lack of engagement with the legal questions raised.
A new paper by political scientist Kevin Brunyeel suggests that “settler colonialism” is significantly to blame for the lack of scholarly interest and engagement. Despite what I say below, I like the paper and recommend it. Regardless of the merits of the argument, the paper has quite the opening:
The discipline of political science does not take indigenous politics seriously. To be sure, there are political scientists who have made important contributions to the study of indigenous politics. However, the bulk of the discipline either does not place indigenous politics in its field of vision or it analyzes it through frameworks that forestall adequate analysis. The worst offender in this regard is American political science, both in the sense of the sub-field that studies the United States and the scholarship and institutions (i.e. political science departments, associations, journals) of the country.
I’m tempted to substitute law schools for political science departments in the above paragraph but I can’t, not completely. First, there are thousands of Indian law papers published every decade, and to say there isn’t a venue for Indian law scholarship is laughable. Second, the American Law Institute is about to start a project on American Indian Law, which is an excellent sign that Indian law is growing up and gaining respectability in the legal world. Continue reading
Law Schools and Indian Law Students
There is an enormous amount of discussion lately about the future of law schools (for a representative thread of discussion, see here). No doubt there appears to be a major glut in lawyers in the overall market, and many law students are beginning to see law school like trade school. They want to pass the bar and get a job. The liberal arts-style of legal education, along with the major development in the past decades of law clinics, is under attack, at least passive-aggressively.
I see a good chance that many law schools, possibly because they’ve lost a major lawsuit, will start streamlining their legal education palates. Subject areas not on the bar exam will fall by the wayside, or become even more marginalized (along with their instructors). When I was in law school, I skipped securities regulation and corporations in favor of legal history and immigration law, and an awesome death penalty seminar. Law schools that have robust curriculum in race studies, feminist legal studies, and Indian law will feel pressure to drop those classes.
I’m here to tell you that Indian law will be one of those classes that becomes marginalized or disregarded altogether. It’s already pretty marginalized in half of law schools, and disregarded altogether in another quarter.
Those law schools that still emphasize it (probably the same ones that do now) will become the holder and protected of a big secret — there is a market for lawyers in Indian country and in Indian law. American Indians are incredibly underrepresented in the field, Indian tribes are always looking for good lawyers, and tribal economies generate work for lawyers all over. State and federal judges are beginning to look for clerks with Indian law on the transcript — it’s a small number, but it’ll grow over time. If a student can master Indian law, then they can master anything (plus, more and more Indian law cases are coming).
I’m tired of people being warned out of Indian law, that there’s no money in it. I hear it all the time from teenagers to college kids. People out there telling American Indian students not to bother with law school and not to bother with Indian law are just plain idiots.
Friends of Turtle Talk Participate in NYTs Debate on the Future of Law School
Here for a full roster of debaters. Here for Kevin Noble Maillard, and here for Rose Cuison Villazor.
And also here:
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It’s Not a Trade School
Kevin Noble Maillard -
Improving, Not Overhauling
Rose Cuison Villazor
More Impacts of Prop. 2 — Financial Aid
As the news about the 2007-2008 academic year comes out, we will be following the impact of Prop. 2 on minority students and communities in Michigan, with an emphasis on American Indian students.
Details from the Detroit News: “A record number of new freshmen flocked to Michigan public universities this fall, but some scholarship opportunities for the 40,674 students have dried up in light of Proposal 2.
“The constitutional amendment passed by voters last November not only banned preferences based on race and gender in public university admissions, but also shut down financial aid programs geared toward those targeted groups.
“Scholarships for women in engineering, single mothers, Hispanic scholars and high-achieving black students are among the programs that have been eliminated or altered at some of the state’s 15 public universities. In general, university leaders said they didn’t take away scholarships they promised students before Proposal 2 took effect Dec. 23, but the challenge has been how to help incoming classes without violating the law.”
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“The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan decided this fall to establish race- and gender-based scholarships after assurances from lawyers that doing so wouldn’t violate the law, leaders said.
“The board set aside $650,000 in seed money and anticipates awarding the first scholarships for incoming students in 2008.
“We wanted to be able to make it possible for alumni and others who want to provide support to do so,” said alumni association president Steve Grafton. “They can’t do that with the university and we can provide that opportunity for them.
“And we are really interested in helping to maintain and build the diversity at the university. This is a recruiting tool that will help the university recruit the very brightest students of color, women in engineering and men in nursing,” he said.
“Much of the debate over Proposal 2 has focused on the University of Michigan, the only state university that admittedly used affirmative action in undergraduate admissions. But the impact of the new constitutional amendment can be felt around the state, as scholarships for students based, in part, on race, gender or ethnicity were not uncommon.
“Universities initiated reviews of all of their scholarship programs. Central Michigan University found four scholarships that involved preferences. CMU didn’t change two slated for Native Americans because they believe those scholarships are based on sovereignty status, not on race.“
Michigan Affirmative Action Symposium
The Michigan Journal of Race & Law is hosting a symposium on affirmative action in Michigan after Prop. 2.
The symposium announcement is here.
For materials on Prop. 2 and its potential impact on American Indian students, please go here and here. For a pdf copy of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission report on Prop. 2, go here. Attachment no. 4 of the report concerns the impact of Prop. 2 on American Indian tuition waiver and is here.
From the symposium announcement….
From Proposition 209 to Proposal 2:
Examining the Effects of Anti-Affirmative Action Voter Initiatives
The diversity of perspectives that is cherished and celebrated by the Michigan Journal of Race & Law and the University of Michigan community is threatened with the passage of ballot initiatives like Michigan’s Proposal 2, which bans the use of race and gender in school admissions. These issues are both timely and critically important in a society that is becoming increasingly segregated by race and ethnicity, both residentially and socially. With the recent passing of Proposal 2 as well as the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding the use of race in public schools, we believe it is crucial to maintain an open and positive dialogue regarding race and education. To that end, our Symposium endeavors to address the variety of policy and legal questions arising out of the anti-affirmative action movement. Our Symposium will explore a broad range of issues including: the current effects of Proposition 209 in California and the potential effects of Proposal 2 on public university education and leadership within the state of Michigan, potential legal alternatives to affirmative action, and existing and emerging efforts to remedy K-12 educational disparities. Most notably, we present this symposium with the hope of preserving the University of Michigan’s longstanding commitment to diversity and as an answer to University of Michigan President Coleman’s request to “Show others what a U-M education looks like”.
Turtle Talk 