Diversity and Social Justice Forum Symposium to address racism during the pandemic and criminal justice system

The symposium is an annual event that addresses different social justice issues regarding diversity, equity and inclusion each year. Panther Archives

Matt Parlow, dean of the Fowler School of Law, has made it his mission to bring different issues to light within the realm of social justice. During a time when Chapman University stakeholders in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are resigning, law school students and faculty will host its fifth annual Diversity and Social Justice Forum Symposium.

“(The symposium) really gets Chapman's name out about being a leader in tackling these important issues, especially in the legal system and various areas of society where there are still issues that we still need to work on, talk about and hear from people who are trying to make change for the better,” Parlow said.

Today’s symposium included two panels and a keynote speaker. The first panel focused on how COVID-19 has reinforced and challenged the social positionality of racial and ethnic identities, how communities of color have been variously impacted by the pandemic and the implications for solidarity post-pandemic.

The second panel addressed the inequalities of the criminal justice system by incorporating the insight of attorneys, professors, activists and exonerees who were wrongfully convicted. One of the panelists Parlow said he was most excited about Mark Godsey, the co-founder of the Ohio Innocence Project out at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

“He’s one of the best known and most respected innocence project lawyers in the entire country,” Parlow said.

Parlow explained symposiums and group efforts like this are what makes the law school really stand out. 

“We wanted to have that conversation about how can we — not only as the Fowler School of Law, but as professors, students and future lawyers — help to ensure that we diversify the profession that we’ve all committed ourselves to?” Parlow said.

Chapman’s law school has most notably made headlines for scrutiny regarding former professor and Dean John Eastman’s racist comments about Vice President Kamala Harris and his involvement in Donald Trump’s election fraud claims.

“The work of our students (and) the work of our faculty reflects what our values are, who we are and the work that we try to do day in and day out,” Parlow said. “That's why, despite the press we got, we recruited both the strongest and the most diverse class in our history, we had record levels of graduate employment for back-to-back years and why we’ve been getting a lot of attention around the country for all the good work we do.”

Rewa Ousman, a third-year law student and co-editor in chief of the Diversity and Social Justice Forum, works closely with law school administration to organize a symposium that is beneficial and insightful for students, faculty, administration and the legal community both locally and nationally.

“My commitment is to make sure when I leave Fowler School of Law, I’ve done something to make it a more inclusive campus where I feel like my perspective and my input as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman is valued and is being implimented,” said Ousman, who also serves as the president of the Muslim Law Student Association.

This year’s keynote speaker is Goodwin Liu, a California Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Liu has been a leader in trying to diversify the legal profession, which is the least diverse white-collar profession in the country, according to Parlow. 

“(Liu) can bestow (insight) upon our attendees in terms of diversifying the legal field and allowing for more inclusion among attorneys of different diverse backgrounds in the legal field,” Ousman said.

Ousman expressed excitement about this year’s symposium straying away from strictly adhering to the panel keynote structure and including a spoken word segment.

“We thought it would be really beneficial to do something different given the recent amplification of the focus on diversity and inclusion,” Ousman said. “I thought it would be important to bring something new to the table at the symposium, so one of our very own law students — Evette Jahangiri, who is a (second-year law student) here — is going to be giving a spoken word poem that she wrote herself that ties into the last panel of the day, which is Guilty Until Proven Innocent.”

Despite the law school’s past run-ins with negative publicity, Ousman believes that Chapman is moving in the right direction regarding DEI.

“With administrators like Dean Parlow and others that share his sentiments, I think there are an abundance of administrative members of the law school who are really dedicated to seeing a diversification of our legal field and a diversification of our campus,” Ousman said.