The Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice
The Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice is the heart of U.C. Berkeley Law School’s public mission. The intellectual hub of the law school’s vibrant social justice community, the Thelton E.Henderson Center for Social Justice is a training and research center that prepares the next generation of public interest lawyers to meet the challenges of representing disadvantaged communities and produces innovative scholarship that combines theory and practice. By providing opportunities for scholars and activists to work together in developing workable solutions to our most pressing social problems, the center provides a bridge between the academy and the community that is unique in our nation.
The Institute for the Study of Social Change
The Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) was founded in 1976. Its research and training focuses on the multiple ways that social change processes socially construct and transform the categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. ISSC researchers use a combination of qualitative and quantitative social science research methods to undertake empirical investigations into critical social issues facing the nation, with a particular emphasis on the conditions of urban inequality and the potential for effective reform in California and western cities. Institute research seeks to illuminate the lived experiences of people whose social locations are profoundly affected by broad processes of social change. Over the years, research projects at ISSC have helped to establish new research agendas and fields of study in the social sciences, and key findings have influenced academic research, public debate and social policy.
In addition to its research activities, ISSC sponsors the Graduate Fellows Program. Now in its thirtieth year, the Program provides an interdisciplinary research and training environment as a complement to graduate programs in the social sciences and professional schools.
University of Hawai’i at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law
The William S. Richardson School of Law in Honolulu, Hawai’i is exceptional both for its location and its commitment to pluralism and diversity within the law, society, and academia. As the only ABA-accredited and Association of American Law Schools member, law school in the Pacific-Asia region, the school offers outstanding teaching and first-rate professional training by a talented and very accessible faculty.
The student body at the School of Law is the most diverse in the nation and represents over 124 undergraduate schools. The curriculum offers the traditional Juris Doctor degree as well as a nationally-ranked Environmental Law Program, and a concentration in Pacific Asian Legal Studies. In 2003, the School introduced a one-year LL.M. program that gives foreign law graduates a strong foundation in American law. In 2008, the School began an evening Part Time JD program.
Unusual access to the legal and local communities also makes studying in Hawai’i special. Professionals in our legal community – from sitting judges to attorneys in public and private practice – actively embrace the school’s educational mission. Whether they are hosting moot court tryouts, judging appellate advocacy arguments, or teaching as adjunct professors, members of the Hawai’i bar bring practical, real-world legal expertise and a spirit of generosity and friendliness to the Law School that demonstrates some of the finest qualities Hawai’i has to offer.
The Law School is also an integral part of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. It is thus uniquely positioned to offer students more than an excellent foundation in traditional American law. We are the only Law School in the country to teach Native Hawaiian issues and Pacific Islands law, for example. Students may also take advantage of UH’s distinguished Centers for Native Hawaiian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese Studies and participate in the activities of the world renowned East-West Center.
Equal Justice Society
The Equal Justice Society is a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse. As heirs of the innovative legal and political strategists of Brown v. Board of Education, the organization broadly models its programmatic efforts after the late Honorable Constance Baker Motley and the Brown litigation team.
Using a three-prong strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, the Equal Justice Society seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance the discourse on the positive role of government.
Critical Race Scholars Society
Native American Law Students Association
Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) seeks to increase the number of Native American law professors, attorneys, judges, and public service entrepreneurs participating in the legal community, which includes both urban and rural Native American communities. In pursuit of this goal, NALSA is committed to the recruitment of Native American students to Boalt. Although NALSA is committed to serving the American Indian community whenever possible, our first priority is to provide the academic and social support necessary to successfully complete three years at Boalt. In meeting this necessity, NALSA also functions as a peer-support organization.
Law Students of African Descent
Finding its roots in the African American Association of the early 1960s, Law Students of African Descent (LSAD) is now at the heart of the Black community at Boalt Hall School of Law. The purpose of the organization is to articulate and promote the needs of Black law students in the law school. An active member of the National Black Law Students Association, LSAD seeks to foster a unique sense of community among its members and to serve as an academic, political, and social resource for Black law students. In the wake of Proposition 209, LSAD actively participates in the recruitment and retention of Black law students. LSAD promotes academic and professional excellence among its members and is committed to forming lasting relationships with its Black alumni, members of the Black legal community, and the Black community as a whole.