DEAN CONWAY ACCEPTS CLEO EDGE AWARD ON BEHALF OF DICKINSON LAW
November 2020 — Dean Danielle M. Conway recently accepted, on behalf of Penn State Dickinson Law, the coveted Council on Legal Education Opportunity Inc. (CLEO) EDGE Award. The EDGE Award recognizes the recipient’s significant commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in legal education. The award was present to Dean Conway on November 12, 2020 during a virtual reception hosted by CLEO.
CLEO, an organization committed to diversifying the legal profession, bestowed EDGE awards to four individuals and one law school. The EDGE Award recognizes excellence in each of the CLEO EDGE award pillars: leadership, education, diversity, and greater equality. Dickinson Law was honored for its role in education.
“The CLEO EDGE Awards are coveted throughout the legal academy,” said Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway. “To have the Dickinson Law community recognized alongside fellow honorees Attorneys Stacey Abrams and Barbara McQuade as well as the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement is absolutely powerful. We all understand that there is more work to be done in service to justice and equality, and I am very proud that Dickinson Law is seen as a trusted partner in this work. I am honored to be a celebrated member of the Dickinson Law community, and I thank CLEO for recognizing our collective leadership in demonstrating excellence in building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive program of legal education.”
The values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are paramount within the Dickinson Law community. Under the visionary leadership of Conway — the first person of color and first woman to serve as dean of Dickinson Law — the Law School has made significant strides to advance and support diversity over the last year amidst two intersecting crises, the global health pandemic and racial oppression.
As a testament to Dickinson Law’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the Law School was first in the nation to unanimously pass a faculty resolution condemning racism and taking responsibility to teach and learn in accordance with antiracist principles. A second faculty resolution affirming support for antiracist teaching followed and led to curricular modifications, including the development and implementation of a required first-year course, “Race and the Equal Protection of the Laws.” Over the summer, faculty organized and attended numerous teaching and learning workshops focused on building inclusive classrooms and formative assessments. As well, faculty and staff challenged themselves to address issues of inequality, generally, and racial inequality, specifically, in course content.
Simultaneously, Dickinson Law virtually hosted the 2020 CLEO Pre-Law Summer Institute (PLSI) after the pandemic required the Law School to swiftly pivot from planning in-person instruction to delivering a complete virtual program — a first in the 52-year history of the Institute. To further support people from communities historically underrepresented in the legal profession, Dickinson Law will again host the Institute next summer.
“Over the past 30-plus years, Dickinson Law has consistently stepped up to the plate to support CLEO and its programs,” said Chief Executive Officer of CLEO Cassandra Sneed Ogden. “We are especially pleased that during Dean Conway’s administration, more emphasis has been placed on ‘enhancing the experience of diverse students’ and expanding the diversity of its faculty. A leader in the effort to train lawyers to become community leaders, Dickinson Law’s core values and holistic educational approach give students an exceptional learning experience. We look forward to 30 more years of partnership with Dickinson Law, which is truly worthy of being named the CLEO EDGE Education recipient.”
This fall, Dickinson Law welcomed one of the most racially and ethnically diverse classes in the history of the Law School. Students of color, including four CLEO scholars, comprise 44% of the entering class — double the percentage of students of color that entered in fall 2019. Likewise, the LGBTQ+ population has doubled to nearly 20% of the student body. Currently, 22% people of color comprise Dickinson Law’s faculty. “Part of our ability to attract faculty, staff, and students who care about diversity, equity, and inclusion is attributable to Dean Conway’s work in this space,” said Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid Bekah Saidman-Krauss. “It is only through each of our lived commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion that we can accomplish so much in such a short time,” said Associate Dean for Academic and Student Services Jeffrey A. Dodge, who nominated the Dickinson Law community for the award. “This award is validation and recognition of our collective achievements. I am incredibly proud to be part of this community and legacy.”
Danielle M. Conway is the Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. A leading expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property law, Dean Conway joined Dickinson Law after serving for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law and 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was the inaugural Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law. Prior to her deanships, Conway was a member of the faculties at the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. She also served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia and later as Chair in Law at LaTrobe University, Faculty of Law & Management. Dean Conway is the author or editor of six books and casebooks as well as numerous book chapters, articles, and essays. Her scholarly agenda and speeches have focused on, among other areas, advocating for public education and for actualizing the rights of marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples, minoritized people, and members of rural communities. Dean Conway is the co-recipient of the inaugural Association of American Law Schools’ Impact Award, which honors individuals who have had a significant positive impact on legal education or the legal profession. Dean Conway was recognized for her work in establishing the Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project. Launched in June 2020, the project is a webpage for law deans, faculty, and the public that contains resources and information related to addressing racism in law and legal education. In 2016, Dean Conway retired from the U.S. Army in the rank of lieutenant colonel after 27 years of combined active, reserve, and national guard service.