2008 Woodie Awards
HLS - Running on Latino Time with Latino Issues
Jose Morales and Lauren Schreiber
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Opinion
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On the weekend of April 19-22, 2007 hundreds of alumni will return to Harvard for the 10th Annual Latino Law and Public Policy Conference and the Latino Alumni Reunion. The conference entitled Advancing a National Leadership Agenda was organized by La Alianza and the Kennedy School of Government's Latino Caucus. This weekend serves as an opportunity to not only advance the Latino agenda, but also reflect on the progress of Latinos in the U.S.
Over the past ten years Harvard has undergone significant changes dedicated to improving student life: sections have gotten smaller, the Hark has been remodeled, we have a volleyball court, professors are more available, and we have a wider selection of course offerings. As current students, we greatly appreciate the efforts and the results of such improvements. However, there remains one area where Harvard's efforts have not yielded the same rewards. Why doesn't Harvard Law have a Latino professor who is actively engaged in the U.S. Latino community at large or one that serves as a mentor to the Latino student body at HLS?
Institutions, including Harvard, market themselves as active promoters of diversity, and, when looking at the array of faculty, it is clear that there are professors from diverse backgrounds. Which poses the question: is there a need to include and emphasize the Latino experience? If the law truly is an all encompassing field that spans many areas of academia (economics and psychology to name a few) then the scholarship that makes up the legal canon should also be as inclusive and diverse. The scholarship created at Harvard is of the utmost importance and is on the cutting edge of legal academia - but it is missing a crucial perspective - that of the Latino experience. Until this unique viewpoint is incorporated, Harvard will be missing a key piece to the puzzle.
While we applaud Harvard's efforts to hire faculty from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, we believe it should also be a priority to hire Latino professors who will actively engage and mentor the Latino student body and help them hone the skills necessary to create social justice in their communities. As minority students there have been days where we've looked around in a classroom or a seminar and realized that we were the only Latinos there. We are sure that this is a sentiment shared by many minorities at Harvard. While this may be a reality that we will continue to face, having a mentor during this time of academic and interpersonal development will ease the transition into our careers and life after Harvard.
Over the past ten years Harvard has undergone significant changes dedicated to improving student life: sections have gotten smaller, the Hark has been remodeled, we have a volleyball court, professors are more available, and we have a wider selection of course offerings. As current students, we greatly appreciate the efforts and the results of such improvements. However, there remains one area where Harvard's efforts have not yielded the same rewards. Why doesn't Harvard Law have a Latino professor who is actively engaged in the U.S. Latino community at large or one that serves as a mentor to the Latino student body at HLS?
Institutions, including Harvard, market themselves as active promoters of diversity, and, when looking at the array of faculty, it is clear that there are professors from diverse backgrounds. Which poses the question: is there a need to include and emphasize the Latino experience? If the law truly is an all encompassing field that spans many areas of academia (economics and psychology to name a few) then the scholarship that makes up the legal canon should also be as inclusive and diverse. The scholarship created at Harvard is of the utmost importance and is on the cutting edge of legal academia - but it is missing a crucial perspective - that of the Latino experience. Until this unique viewpoint is incorporated, Harvard will be missing a key piece to the puzzle.
While we applaud Harvard's efforts to hire faculty from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, we believe it should also be a priority to hire Latino professors who will actively engage and mentor the Latino student body and help them hone the skills necessary to create social justice in their communities. As minority students there have been days where we've looked around in a classroom or a seminar and realized that we were the only Latinos there. We are sure that this is a sentiment shared by many minorities at Harvard. While this may be a reality that we will continue to face, having a mentor during this time of academic and interpersonal development will ease the transition into our careers and life after Harvard.
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