This is a guest blog post by Robert Lapper, KC Dorothy & David Lam Chair in Law and Public Policy and Chair of the Admissions Committee at UVic Law. Thanks, Professor Lapper, for your hard work and reflections.
As we begin our 2024-2025 Admissions cycle, the UVic Law Admissions Committee and Admissions Staff have been reflecting on our first experience with a Black Admissions stream, this past year. While the Black students we had admitted in other admissions streams in previous years succeeded admirably, we were not satisfied that our admissions process adequately addressed the systemic discrimination experienced by Black students and the underrepresentation of Black students at Canadian law schools and the legal profession in Canada. Consistent with UVic Law’s commitment to diversity, equity and social justice we wanted to respond to these historic inequities and ongoing inequalities. We therefore created a Black Admissions Stream, to intentionally seek to admit more Black students.
This past admissions cycle was the first one in which students were invited to apply in the Black Admissions Stream. Students who self identify as Black may, but are not required to, apply in this Stream. Included with their application, students are required to submit a Black Admissions statement that addresses some of how their personal and/or professional experiences might contribute to UVic Law’s stated goals of creating a diverse and representative learning community, and their reasons for choosing to apply through this Stream.
As part of the Black Admissions process, we established a Black Admissions Sub-Committee of our Admissions Committee to review the applications that came through this Stream and make decisions on which applicants would be offered admission. That Sub-Committee included a Black member of the British Columbia legal profession, one Black student (nominated by the Black Law Student Association), the Student Support Coordinator, and a faculty member.
The Committee reviewed some 32 applications and made offers to 26 Black students. We were delighted to admit 15 Black students. This is an increase of 500% from last year’s Black student admission number of 3. These numbers tell us that have clearly made a good start toward our goal of admitting more Black students, and creating a more representative community. This early success has inspired us to continue to sustain and promote a robust Black Admissions process, and to ensure that Black students are encouraged to apply through this Stream to be welcomed to UVic Law.