Law School Holds Inaugural Summit on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

News

By Law School staff April 27, 2023

On April 14, in New York City, Cornell Law School hosted its inaugural summit on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Hosted by Debevoise and Plimpton and made possible by the Law School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Alumni Leadership Council, the event convened thought leaders among and beyond the school’s alumni, administrators, and current students to discuss DEI efforts at Cornell Law—ranked one of the most diverse law schools in the country —as well as the DEI landscape of the legal profession at large.

The event kicked off with a lunch program, introduced by Deborah Enix-Ross, senior advisor to the International Dispute Resolution Group of Debevoise & Plimpton and current president of the American Bar Association. Enix-Ross is the second African American woman to serve as president of the ABA; the first, Paulette Brown, was also in attendance.

Enix-Ross was followed at the podium by Natalya Johnson AB ‘07, JD ’10, senior counsel of Johnson & Johnson, president of the Garden State Bar Association, and a member of Cornell’s DEI Alumni Leadership Council, who then introduced Jens David Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean and professor of law.

Ohlin, Cornell Law’s seventeenth dean, appointed the school’s first associate dean for DEI and founded its first DEI Alumni Leadership Council, of which he said, “I can’t imagine a stronger, more active, more engaged group of alumni.”

He noted, “I’m really excited about all of the work that everyone is doing with our alumni, with our students, with our faculty. I’m especially excited about the bridges between those various groups at the Law School.”

five people standing in a row facing the camera for a posed photo. On the left side are two women, a man in the middle wearing a suit, and two women standing on the right side of him as well.

From left to right:
Natalya Johnson, AB ’07, JD ’10, Senior Counsel, Johnson & Johnson
Paulette Brown, Past President, American and National Bar Associations
Jens David Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Deborah Enix-Ross President, American and National Bar Associations, Senior Adviser, Debevoise & Plimpton
Leslie Richards Yellen, JD ’84, Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion, Debevoise & Plimpton

Image of two people smiling at the camera during an event in a large conference room. The gentleman on the left is bald, wearing glasses and is dressed in a suit and tie. The woman on the right has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing a black dress with a bright red blazer over top.

From left to right:
Jens David Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Marihug Cedeño, BS ’07, JD ’13 Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division

A crowd shot of several people sitting at large round tables and facing to the left. They are attending a conference and wearing name tags. The crowd is made up of various ethnicities, races, and genders.

We had a terrific turn out for the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit at Debevoise & Plimpton. Thank you for hosting us at The Spiral NYC!

A crowd shot of several people sitting at large round tables in a conference room. They are all facing a speaker at a podium who is wearing a suit.

Dean Jens David Ohlin gave welcoming remarks and explained why DEI is a priority for him and how he is taking time to champion DEI issues within Myron Taylor Hall and beyond.

Two people face the camera smiling. On the left is a man wearing a black suit and tie, he is bald, wearing glasses and holding a glass trophy award. On the right is a woman with white hair, a chunky necklace and a white shirt with black leather blazer overtop.

Jens David Ohlin and Leslie Richards Yellen. Dean Ohlin is the first recipient of the newly established Cornell Law School DEI Champion Award.

Three women are standing in a hallway, wearing nametags on lanyards and smiling at the camera. All three women are dressed in business casual attire. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress, the woman in the middle is wearing a white blouse and glasses, and the woman on the right is wearing glasses, a black dress, and a bright red blazer.

Michelle M. Duguid, MS ’06, PH.D. ’08 takes a break between moderating the “Investing in DEI: Shaping the Legal Landscape through Sustainable Strategies” panel discussion to mingle with Theresa Oliver, Candidate for JD `23 (pictured right), and Melissa Louidor, Candidate for JD `23 (pictured left).

Three women are seated in arm chairs in a row on stage. Three small, circular tables sit in front of them with glasses of water on them. The three women are holding hand held microphones and they are staring at one another.

Sidne Norman ’24, Jacinda Rivas ’23, and Arisa Herman ’23 described various efforts and initiatives to promote DEI at the Law School.

Seven people are standing in a line, facing the camera. They are all wearing business attire with nametags on lanyards around their necks. A large window with blinds drawn is behind them.

Students and alumni enjoyed reconnecting and networking with one another as they shared stories about diversity, equity, and inclusion at Cornell Law School, and in their professional lives.

Two women are facing each other in a candid, action shot during a conference in a business suite. The women are engaged in conversation and there are people in the distance mingling in the room with large, round tables.

Arisa Herman, Candidate JD ’23 and Dean of Students, Markeisha J. Miner, JD having a conversation during a break between sessions.

four students, all wearing black business attire are standing in a group during a cocktail reception. They are engaged in conversation and holding wine glasses in their hands.

Everyone enjoyed connecting at the post networking reception and it was great to mingle with alumni, students, and faculty during a cocktail hour overlooking the city!

Three people are engaged in conversation during a cocktail hour. Two women border a man holding a wine glass who is wearing a suit.

Stephen Barr ’23 enjoyed networking during the cocktail hour following an exciting day of thought provoking sessions and conversations.

After lunch, attendees heard from Marihug Cedeno, BS ’07, JD ‘13, a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, who introduced a short video featuring leaders from the Alumni Association’s several alumni-of-color and affinity-based networks.

Appearing were Cornell Black Lawyers Alumni Network President Victoria Clark ’14, and president and co-founder Ernest Eric Elmore, AB ’86, JD ‘89; Latino Lawyers of Cornell co-leaders Sasha Belinkie ’15 and Maria Fernandez ’92; Cornell Alumni Network of Asian Lawyers President Andrew Thomas Hahn Sr., AB ’83, JD ‘86; Native American Lawyers Alumni Network President Leslie Wheelock, J.D./M.B.A. ’84; Mary Kennedy Brown Society President Jacquie Duval ’92; and DEI Alumni Leadership Council member Maithili Pradhan ’10.

This presentation was followed by the panel “Investing in DEI: Shaping the Legal Landscape through Sustainable Strategies,” with panelists Paulette Brown, past president of the American and National Bar Associations; Diego Carvejal, a consultant at VallotKarp Consulting; Andrew Thomas Hahn Sr. ’86, general counsel at Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP; and Geoff Young ’06, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman. The panel was moderated by Michelle M. Duguid, MS ’06, Ph.D ‘08, associate dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and associate professor of Management and Organizations at Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Next was a fireside chat with Michelle Whelan, clinical professor and the Law School’s first associate dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a role she took on in the fall of 2022. She was joined by DEI Alumni Leadership Council co-chair Leslie Richards Yellen ’84, director of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Debevoise & Plimpton (her fellow co-chair, Crystal Deazle ’01, director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, was unable to attend due to illness).

Whelan described this first year in her new role as a “listening tour” whose observations will allow her to collaborate with Ohlin on creating a structure for the deanship, which is a three-year rotating position. She invited members of the Cornell Law community to reach out to her with their input. “What I’m really hoping for,” she said, “is a deepening and strengthening of the trust between students, faculty, and administration.”

Richards-Yellen told her, “DEI is a journey and something that always evolves and always needs to be pushed, and we’re glad that you’re going to do some of the pushing at Cornell.”

A final panel turned the discussion over to future leaders, with speakers drawn from the current Cornell Law student body. Sidne Norman ’24, Jacinda Rivas ’23, and Arisa Herman ’23, described various efforts and initiatives to promote DEI at the Law School. They shared their aspirations and fears, as well as what they hoped to accomplish as young professionals training at an educational institution steeped in DEI.

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