Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Mission Statement

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee’s mission is to promote and facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion amongst all areas of the Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), with four main focus areas: (1) increasing the representation of those who hold historically marginalized identities, including Black, Brown, and other students of color, among the NULR’s membership and leadership, (2) ensuring a welcoming, safe, and equitable space for the NULR’s members, (3) increasing the publication of scholarship by authors who hold historically marginalized identities, including Black, Brown, and other people of color, and (4) increasing the publication of scholarship that focuses on issues related to racial justice.

The Committee views diversity as ensuring that those who have been traditionally excluded due to the identities that they hold are represented. Diversity is defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity), and like grounds of historic and ongoing systemic subordination (such as disability or faith). The Committee views inclusivity as ensuring that those with historically marginalized identities, particularly Black, Brown, and other people of color, are included in all conversations and facets of the NULR. The Committee views equity as ensuring that every voice is respected and valued equally.

The Committee acknowledges that diversity does not necessarily lead to equity. The Committee also acknowledges that we have the furthest to go towards establishing racial equity, particularly for Black people. Therefore, the Committee intentionally engages in anti-racist and anti-discriminatory work to uplift and amplify Black voices and other voices of color. Additionally, the Committee is working to expel racism in any and all forms from the NULR. For generations, historically marginalized voices have been silenced in the legal community. These voices deserve to be heard, respected, and at the forefront. It is the mission of this Committee to lead that charge and amplify those voices.

Our Initiatives

The Northeastern University Law Review (NULR) has been engaging this year in critical self-reflection and improvement related to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Improvements have been made already, but the NULR has much more work still to be done. Current initiatives include the following:

• The NULR created the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (the Committee) and institutionalized it in its Bylaws to lead the work of making the NULR a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable space both this year and in future years.

• The NULR has expanded its transfer application period to include LLM students.

• The NULR is committed to overhauling its application process to be more equitable. The Committee, on an annual basis, reexamines the diversity questions by conducting rounds of testing to gain meaningful insight about general receptiveness to the questions.

• The NULR is conducting a review of past and current scholarship to determine how it can attract more diverse scholarship.

• The NULR has democratized its submission review process by creating a Submission Review Committee that is open to both Editorial Board members and staff.

• The Committee has drafted a version of the Mansfield Rule to be used in the Editorial Board Election process, the staff application process, and in the article submission process. It is being proposed to the Editorial Board for implementation in this year’s elections.

• The Committee has implemented an annual racial sensitivity training for all NULR members.

The purpose of publishing our initiatives is to hold ourselves accountable to the broader NUSL and legal communities. If you have feedback or suggestions on any of the above initiatives, or if you would like to recommend a new initiative or focus area that the Committee should address, please use the button below to get in touch with us.

Click Here to Submit Feedback or Ideas to the DEI Committee