April 13, 2011
The
American
Bar Association Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the
Educational Pipeline has named the Ronald H. Brown Prep Program
for College Students the recipient of its 2011 Alexander Award for
Excellence in Pipeline Diversity. The Alexander Award
recognizes an individual or organization for success in working
along the educational pipeline in a collaborative approach
involving more than one segment of the continuum from elementary to
high school to college to law school to the practice.
Celebrating a milestone fifth anniversary this year, the Prep
Program is one of several path-breaking initiatives of the
Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic
Development at St. John’s School of Law. Established in 1999 in
memory of Ronald H. Brown ’70, who paved the way for African
Americans in government service and the law, the RHB Center aims to
engage in legal studies, research and outreach focusing on issues
that affect the lives of underrepresented people, increase the
racial and socioeconomic diversity of the legal profession, and
educate law students to be leaders on issues of racial, economic
and social justice.
In partnership with John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY
Department of Latin American and Latina/o Studies; Medgar Evers
College/CUNY; St. John’s University; United Negro College Fund
Colleges; and York College/CUNY, the RHB Center founded the Prep
Program to encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds −
often the first members of their family to attend college − to
apply to law school and pursue the study and practice of law.
Through a rigorous selection process, each undergraduate college
selects sophomores to participate in a nine-week summer program
during which they take law school courses taught by St. John’s
faculty, engage in internships with judges and lawyers in a variety
of practice settings, and receive ample guidance on the law school
admissions process. Students who successfully complete the program
for sophomores can apply to participate in the program for juniors
the following summer, when they take a comprehensively designed
LSAT prep course.
In recent years, Prep Program participants have increased their
LSAT scores by an average of 10 points. More importantly, over 80
percent of program graduates have been accepted to at least one law
school, including:
- American University
- Boston College
- Duke University
- George Washington University
- Georgetown University
- New York University
- St. John’s University
- University of California Davis
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
- Wake Forest University
- Yale University
“The Prep Program’s success is a tribute to the hard work and
dedication of our students and faculty and reflects the Law
School’s commitment to fostering a more accessible and diverse
legal profession” said
Leonard M. Baynes, Program Director, Director of the Ronald H.
Brown Center and Professor of Law at St. John’s. “We are honored to
receive this year’s Alexander Award and look forward to continuing
to evolve the Prep Program to meet the needs of its participants
and the legal community,” added
Michael A. Simons, the Law School’s Dean and John V. Brennan
Professor of Law and Ethics. “A commitment to diversity is at
the heart of our mission, and the Prep Program is an investment in
the future of the legal profession.”
The Alexander Award is named for Raymond Pace and Sade Tanner
Mossell Alexander. Raymond Alexander was Wharton’s first African
American graduate, a multi-term president of the National Bar
Association, and the first black judge on the Common Pleas Court of
Philadelphia. In the early 1930s, he took two Chester County school
districts to court in a racial segregation case. His victory ended
de jure segregation in Pennsylvania schools. Sadie Alexander,
Raymond’s wife, was the first African American woman to receive a
Ph.D. in the United States, the first woman to receive a law degree
from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the first
national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Incorporated.
The ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational
Pipeline (formerly the ABA Presidential Advisory Council on
Diversity) works to increase the number of diverse students who are
on track to becoming lawyers. The Pipeline Council acts as a
think-tank and programmatic incubator for activities that foster a
more diverse educational pipeline into the legal profession.;
providing a forum for key stakeholders to address particular issues
and build networks for change in educational systems and the legal
profession.
For more information about the Ronald H. Brown Prep Program for
College Students and other initiatives of the Ronald H. Brown
Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s Law
School, contact baynesl@stjohns.edu.