The Project
Disrupting Columbia Law School hopes to highlight diversity and disruption in the Columbia Law community by sharing the stories of students who have forged their own paths.
Origins
The “classic” law school experience is one of whiteness, wealth, and privilege. From movies like “The Paper Chase” to books like “One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School,” law students are conditioned to believe that to be a law student means to be in a position of privilege at an elite institution.
But this dominant narrative is far from the only law school experience, or even the most common one. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the inequalities that often contribute to diverse student experiences. Columbia Law’s blindness to these inequalities, as well as students’ isolation and detachment from others’ experiences, showed that Columbia Law needs disruption to grow.
This project, formed by a group of Columbia Law students, is for us and by us, sharing diverse CLS stories. The project highlights how students and affiliates have worked to disrupt the law school and legal community at large. The project further draws attention to the issues faced by marginalized individuals at the law school.
Our Goals
Share Diversity
By sharing diverse stories of Columbia Law students, we “disrupt” and grow past the idea of law school as a singular experience of privilege. Instead, we celebrate varied lived experiences, communities, and passions.
Foster Community
At Columbia, students may never venture beyond their 1L sections to find friends. Though various extracurricular groups and activities offer communities based on goals, practice area interests, and personal identities, many students sequester themselves, surrounding themselves with those that share similar privileges. A more inclusive CLS community educates students about these groups and brings them together. We hope to offer students the chance to get to know others’ communities and to grow their own.
Highlight Change
Amid a pandemic that has emphasized extreme disparities and hardships, we need change. This site will highlight change-makers and disruptors, to bring attention to issues in the law school community, and to show how some Columbia Law students are addressing them. By sharing stories of disruption, we hope to provide students with the tools and confidence they may need to forge their own paths.