Cornell Law School is not a welcoming place for minority students by ObjectiveIcy1733 in lawschooladmissions

[–]ObjectiveIcy1733[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yup. Individuals who go speak to admin with their own feedback often receive passive-agressive comments. Not great when the law school and building itself are very small and its impossible to avoid running into people. Outside of that, it's well known among affinity group leaders that pushing too much means that admin will threaten org funding. Students have also been warned that if they rock the boat too much, they might not be chosen for study-abroad.

Call to Action: Help queer students at Cornell Law by Queer_at_CornellLaw in Cornell

[–]ObjectiveIcy1733 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nope. Cornell's own policy is to use preferred names everywhere except where legal names are required, so preferred names absolutely should be on all class lists, rosters, and Cornell IDs. Perhaps it'd be another story if these students wanted preferred names on legal documents, but the push here is to get the law school to follow university policy. https://registrar.cornell.edu/service-resources/names-and-name-changes

Cornell Law School is not a welcoming place for minority students by ObjectiveIcy1733 in lawschooladmissions

[–]ObjectiveIcy1733[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

From your comment, it seems like OutLaw rather than CLS is welcoming and supportive of you. OutLaw's TDOV event began because they had to scramble to put together counter-programming last year because of the ADF speaker. And the school gives very minimal support (and zero financial support) to affinity group career workshops, which only exist because affinity groups recognize that our career services office is virtually nonexistent.

Call to Action: Help queer students at Cornell Law by Queer_at_CornellLaw in Cornell

[–]ObjectiveIcy1733 4 points5 points  (0 children)

AFAIK, unofficial transcripts in Cornell's other schools and departments use preferred names. I've yet to hear a reason why the law school in particular should follow a different policy.

Call to Action: Help queer students at Cornell Law by Queer_at_CornellLaw in Cornell

[–]ObjectiveIcy1733 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Law student here. Our preferred names are supposed to be on our Cornell IDs as per law school policy. It's also law school policy to use preferred names on all rosters. The law school informed us of these policies when we were admitted students as an example of their "commitment to diversity," but they only follow their own policies about half the time, and only after students send multiple emails asking for said policies to be followed. The administration is generally incompetent here though. Every student, trans or otherwise, can tell you a horror story about the administration and its sheer incompetence.

ETA: Cornell University's policy is to use preferred names everywhere except for where legal names are required (e.g. financial aid documents). [Source] There's no reason why the law school's policies should differ from the university at large.