Trial advocacy program advances Loyola’s anti-racist mission
When the Dan K. Webb Center for Advocacy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law presented its biannual Women in Litigation Conference this fall, leaders took the opportunity to advance its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
“We focused on training women and people from diverse backgrounds in how to get into advocacy training and teaching,” says Gina Gerardi, assistant director of the center. The conference also included a panel discussion on educating lawyers about the need to expand diversity among trial advocacy coaches and faculty as well as a session on teaching case files that involve diversity and inclusion issues.
Led by director Zelda B. Harris—who also serves as the law school’s interim dean—the Dan K. Webb Center for Advocacy is consistently ranked among the country’s top 15 programs. Presenting the Women in Litigation conference is among the many ways the center furthers the School of Law’s mission, which was recently rewritten with 100% faculty approval to reflect Loyola’s commitment to dismantling the legal, economic, political, and social structures that generate and sustain racism and all forms of oppression.