A Female Professor's Reflections on Thurgood Marshall School of Law: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

It is a pleasure to participate in this historic celebration highlighting sixty years of legal excellence in honor of Sweatt v. Painter the case that led to the establishment of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. The author, William Inge, once said, “The future . . . is safe only in the hands of those . . . [who value the] past . . . .” When I entered Thurgood Marshall School of Law as a student thirty-nine years ago, there were three first year sections with about five or six women in each one. I was one of a total of approximately fifteen to eighteen female students in the first year class in the fall semester of 1971. Currently, in the first year class, there are 116 female students compared with 95 male students. In the total student body (first, second and third year students), there are 204 females compared with 267 males.