* Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Law. J.D., U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall) (1974).
I dedicate this paper to Professor James Jones, Jr., my beloved mentor, colleague and friend, whose unwavering commitment to excellence and rigor in scholarship has inspired me and enriched the University of Wisconsin as well as the nation. His encouragement of my fledgling endeavors has been priceless.
1 Professor James E. Jones, Jr., “Scholarship: Reflections After Twenty Years,” Address at the first annual meeting of the Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference Luncheon, Loyola University Chicago School of Law (Feb. 10, 1990).
2 The First National Meeting of the Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conferences was held at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago on March 25–27, 1999 (proceedings on file with author).
3 Program on file with author.
4 See infra Part II.
5 Reggie Robinson of Howard University Law School was the founder of the Mid-Atlantic Conference, which focused on critiques of works-in-progress and discussion of legal theory trends and debates. The Sixth Annual Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference will be hosted by Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, Delaware, on February 10–12, 2000 (correspondence on file with author).
The Southwestern Conference meeting was sponsored by the AALS and the University of Arizona on April 23–24, 1992. See Reginald Leamon Robinson, “The Other Against Itself”: Deconstructing the Violent Discourse Between Korean and African Americans, 67 S. Cal. L. Rev. 15, 17 n.2 (1993). The Southwestern and Southeastern Conferences held a joint meeting in May, 1994. See Angela Gilmore, They’re Just Funny That Way: Lesbians, Gay Men and African-American Communities as Viewed Through the Privacy Prism, 38 How. L.J. 231, 246 (1994).
The Western Law Teachers of Color Conference’s first meeting was held in the Bay Area in 1993. The second meeting, in 1994, was held at Lake Arrow Head and was arranged by Sean Scott, John Calmore, and Gary Williams of Loyola-LA. Organized by Bob Chang, Gloria Sandrino, Laura Padilla and Frank Valdes of Cal Western, the 1995 meeting took place in La Jolla. The 1996 Conference was held in Santa Cruz and was arranged by H.G. Prince and Keith Brown of Hastings College of the Law. The 1997 Conference was held in Albuquerque and was arranged by Margaret Montoya of the University of New Mexico (correspondence on file with author). In 1998, the Western Conference met at the Salishan Resort in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. Among the events that took place were a roundtable entitled “Beyond Race Essentialist Politics: Multidimensional Coalition Building” and plenary discussions on teaching and scholarship (program on file with author).
The First Annual Northeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference: Law Professors of Color in the Post Modern World was held March 29–30, 1996, and was hosted by Western New England College School of Law (program on file with author).
6 The National Steering Committee included General Chair Professor Linda R. Crane of The John Marshall Law School and Midwestern Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Inc.; Program Chair Professor Reginald Leamon Robinson, Howard University Law School and Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Fundraising Co-Chairs Professor Linda S. Greene, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Law and Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Inc. and Professor Leonard M. Baynes, Western New England Law School and Northeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Members, Professor Margaret Chon, Seattle University School of Law and Western People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Bryan K. Fair, University of Alabama School of Law and Southeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Sheila Foster, Rutgers University School of Law-Camden and Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Tanya Hernandez, St. John’s University School of Law and Northeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Steven H. Hobbs, Tom Bevill Chair, University of Alabama and Southeastern Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Darren Lenard Hutchinson, Southern Methodist University School of Law and Southwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Rogelio Lasso, Washburn University School of Law and Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Inc.; Professor George Martinez, Southern Methodist University School of Law and Southwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; Professor Laura Padilla, California Western School of Law and Western People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference; and Professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, University of New Mexico School of Law and Southwestern Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference.
The Benefactors (contributions of $10,000 or more) were The John Marshall Law School (Robert G. Johnston, Dean) and the Law School Admission Council (Dean Leo Romero, President; Kent Lollis, Associate Director).
The Sponsors ($1,500–$9,999) were American University-Washington College of Law (Claudio Grossman, Dean); Boston College Law School (James S. Rogers, Interim Dean); Howard University Law School (Alice Gresham Bullock, Dean); Northern Illinois University School of Law (LeRoy Pernell, Dean); Ohio State University School of Law (Gregory Williams, Dean); Quinnipiac College School of Law Neil H. Cogan, Dean); Seattle University School of Law (James E. Bond, Dean); University of Alabama School of Law (Kenneth C. Randall, Dean).
The Patrons ($900–$1,499) were Fordham University School of Law (John D. Feerick, Dean); Washburn University School of Law (James M. Concannon, Dean); and Wayne State University School of Law (Joan Mahoney, Dean).
The Supporters ($500 or $899) were Georgia State University College of Law (Janice C. Griffith, Dean); Notre Dame Law School (David T. Link, Dean); Rutgers University School of Law-Camden (Rayman L. Solomon, Dean); Suffolk University Law School (John E. Fenton, Jr., Dean); Syracuse University College of Law (Dan Braveman, Dean); University of Houston Law Center (Stephen Thomas Zamora, Dean); University of Nebraska College of Law (Nancy B. Rapaport, Dean); University of Tennessee College of Law (Thomas C. Galligan, Jr., Dean); and Western New England School of Law (Donald J. Dunn, Dean).
7 Their “mission accomplished,” on January 10, 1998, Linda Crane and I arranged a dinner party hosted by the Midwestern Conference for thirty regional conference representatives at the elegant Lulu’s in San Francisco. It was a celebration of our agreement to hold a national meeting of the regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conferences and a fortification for the work ahead.
8 Conference brochure on file with author.
9 Over two hundred articles have been published by members of the Midwestern Conference, in a wide range of law reviews and journals, including the most competitive publications. See generally Midwestern Conference Bibliography (on file with author).
10 Correspondence on file with author.
11 “The annual regional conferences have been the birthplaces of some of the most stimulating scholarship in the legal academy. In the regional meetings that I have participated in (over the past three years) ground breaking scholarship in family law, adoption, law and literature, mental health law, and identity politics, are among the recent issues given scholarly attention. The scholarship coming from these conferences has provided a new avenue in legal education.” Michele Cammers Goodwin, Hastie Fellow, University of Wisconsin Law School (correspondence on file with author).
12 Correspondence on file with author.
13 See generally Andrew Haines, The Ritual of the Minority Law Teachers Conference: The History and Analysis of the Totemic Gathering of the Shaman to Reconsecrate the Tribal Totem of Law School, 10 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 393 (1991).
14 The following chronology of the Midwestern Conference’s institutional history attests to the efficacy of our emancipatory model of institution building—a model dedicated to the creation of an institution grounded in broad-based support and participation through the engagement of sponsoring deans of hosting institutions and annual rotation of site coordinators and organizing committee members. This chronology traces the creation of a community of legal scholars of color, as evidenced by the roster of professors. But perhaps most importantly, it is an opportunity to pay homage to our community of outsider scholars.
Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference Inc., An Illinois Non-Profit Corporation: The Board of Directors include: Linda S. Greene, President (University of Wisconsin); Norman C. Amaker, Vice President (Loyola University Chicago); Linda R. Crane, Secretary-Treasurer (John Marshall School of Law); Ronald C. Griffin (Washburn University); Michael A. Middleton (University of Missouri-Columbia); Vincene Verdun (Ohio State University); Leland B. Ware (St. Louis University); N. Douglas Wells (Capital University).
Record of Annual Meetings (1990-2000)
February 10, 1990: Annual Meeting Committee: Linda S. Greene (Chair). Law School Partner and Dean: Loyola University, Dean Nina S. Appel. Site Arrangements: Norman C. Amaker.
March 22–24, 1991: Annual Meeting Committee: Linda S. Greene (Chair), Norman Amaker, Linda R. Crane, Michael A. Middleton, Gerald Torres (University of Minnesota), Leland B. Ware. Law School Partner and Dean: University of Minnesota, Dean Robert Stein. Site Arrangements: Gerald Torres.
March 20–22, 1992: Annual Meeting Committee: Linda S. Greene (Chair), Yvette M. Barksdale (John Marshall Law School), Kevin D. Brown (Indiana University), Linda R. Crane, Paula C. Johnson (Northern Illinois University), Jennifer M. Russell (Case Western Reserve University), Gerald Torres. Law School Partner and Dean: The John Marshall Law School, Dean Howard T. Markey. Site Arrangements: Linda R. Crane.
March 26, 1993: Annual Meeting Committee: Linda R. Crane (Chair), Leona S. Green (Northern Illinois University), Cheryl I. Harris (Chicago-Kent College of Law), Keith Norman Hylton (Northwestern University), Sabrina A. McCarthy (Notre Dame University), Solomon Oliver, Jr. (Cleveland Marshall College of Law), Jennifer M. Russell, Vincene Verdun. Law School Partner and Dean: Case Western Reserve University, Dean Peter M. Gerhart. Site Arrangements: Jennifer Russell.
March 1994: Annual Meeting Committee: Vincene Verdun (Chair), Ronald C. Griffin, Ann L. Iijima (William Mitchell College of Law), Vernellia R. Randall (University of Dayton), Jennifer M. Russell, Anna W. Shavers (University of Nebraska), N. Douglas Wells. Law School Partner and Dean: University of Missouri-Columbia, Dean Tom Heinz. Site Arrangements: Michael A. Middleton.
March 1995: Annual Meeting Committee: N. Douglas Wells (Chair), Ronald C. Griffin, Ann L. Iijima, Anna W. Shavers, Vernellia R. Randall, Neil G. Williams (Loyola University Chicago), Vincence Verdun. Law School Partner and Dean: Washburn University, James M. Concannon. Site Arrangements: Ronald C. Griffin.
March 1996: Annual Meeting Committee: Ann L. Iijima (Chair), Ronald C. Griffin, Michael A. Middleton, Anna W. Shavers, Leland B. Ware. Law School Partner and Dean: St. Louis University Law School, Dean John B. Attanasio. Site Arrangements: Leland B. Ware.
April 1997: Annual Meeting Committee: Anna W. Shavers (Chair), Yvette M. Barksdale, Ann L. Iijima, Kimberly J. Norwood (Washington University), Vernellia R. Randall, Leland B. Ware, Catherine L. Wilson (University of Nebraska), Neil G. Williams. Law School Partner and Dean: The John Marshall Law School, Dean Robert G. Johnston; Loyola University Chicago, Dean Nina S. Appel. Site Arrangements: Yvette Barksdale, Neil G. Williams.
March 1998: Annual Meeting Committee: Kimberly J. Norwood (Chair), Shirley L. Mays (Capital Univeristy), E. Michelle Rabounin (Illinois University), Catherine L. Wilson. Law School Partner and Dean: Capital University, Dean Steven Bahls. Site Arrangements: N. Douglas Wells.
March 26, 1999: (During the First National Meeting of the Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conferences—John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois) Annual Meeting Committee: Michael A. Middleton (Chair), Ronald C. Griffin, Ann L. Iijima, Rogelio A. Lasso (Washburn University), Anna W. Shavers, Neil G. Williams. Law School Partner and Dean: The John Marshall Law School, Dean Robert G. Johnston. Site Arrangements: Linda R. Crane.
March 22–26, 2000: Annual Meeting Committee: Michael A. Middleton (Co-Chair), Neil G. Williams (Co-Chair), Ronald C. Griffin, Ann L. Iijima, Rogelio A. Lasso, Anna W. Shavers. Site: Double Tree Resort, Sedona, Arizona. Site Arrangements: The Y2K Annual Meeting Committee.
15 See generally Stanley Aronowitz, On Intellectuals, in Intellectuals: Aesthetics, Politics, Academics 10 (Bruce Robbins ed., 1990).
16 Professor J. Clay Smith, In Tribute: Charles Hamilton Houston, 111 Harv. L. Rev. 2173, 2173 (1998)(“domination of the jurisprudential matrix”).
17 For instance, moderators of the 1992 Midwestern Conference included Professor Linda S. Greene (University of Wisconsin), Professor Joyce A. Hughes (Northwestern University), Professor Beverly I. Moran (University of Wisconsin), Christine Jones, Esq., Professor Norman Amaker (Loyola University Chicago), and Professor Ann L. Iijima (William Mitchell College of Law). Conference Announcement, Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference Third Annual Meeting, Mar. 20–22, 1992 (on file with author). Moderators of the 1993 Midwestern Conference included Professor Leland B. Ware (St. Louis University), Professor Vincene Verdun (Ohio State University), Professor Robin McGee (Hamline University), Professor R. Carl Moy (William Mitchell College of Law), and Professor Yvette M. Barksdale (John Marshall Law School). Conference Announcement, Fourth Annual Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Mar. 26–28, 1993 (on file with author). Moderators of the 1997 Midwestern Conference included Anna W. Shavers (University of Nebraska), Rogelio A. Lasso (Washburn University), and Linda S. Greene. Conference Announcement, Eighth Annual Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Apr. 25–27, 1997 (on file with author).
The presenters at the 1990 meeting of the Midwestern Conference included Professor Jerome Culp (Duke University), “Black Legal Scholarship;” Professor James E. Jones, Jr. (University of Wisconsin), “Scholarship: Reflections After 20 Years;” and Professor Gerald Torres (University of Minnesota), “Reunderstanding the Voices Debate: Culture, Pluralism, and Law.” Conference Announcement, Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, Feb. 10, 1990 (on file with author).
18 From the original 1989 meeting of the Midwestern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference to the upcoming conference in the year 2000, the Midwestern Conference has enjoyed the hospitality of seven different law school partners. Its Annual Meeting Committee of up to eight members during any given year has benefited from the rotation of some thirty participants.