The path toward a student’s professional career is not a lonely one. Professors, advisors, friends and family are only a small part of the village that raises a student to their full potential.
However, many first-generation college students don’t have a village to support them with issues that college and professional school can bring. For under-represented minority students, this gap is only widened with a lack of examples to strive towards.
As with medicine, journalism and all other professions, Latinos make up only a small percentage of active legal professionals.This lack of Latino representation keeps the policymaking process blind to the Latino experience, resulting in policies that only maintain disparities.
In a 2020 report released by the American Bar Association (ABA), Latinos made up only 5% of active attorneys, based on survey responses. In terms of law students, only 6% of students in the top 30-ranked programs identify as Hispanic/Latino, according to the U.S. News and World Report.
In order to help bridge the gap, student-led organizations at institutions provide support to those on a path that can seem unwelcoming at times.
For the soon-to-be law students, the Pre-Law Latinx Student Association (PLLSA) at Arizona State University provides law-oriented undergrads both guidance and insight into both the law school admissions process and the legal professions as a whole.
For those on the home straight towards a legal career, the Chicano-Latino Law Student Association (CLLSA) and its previous incarnations, have been giving Latinx law students a foundation to stand on during their legal education since 1985.
While catering to different sides of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) fence, both organizations have similar missions. While PLLSA is focused on getting Latinx students to law school, CLLSA focuses more on building a network for the future professionals.
“We focused a lot on three different things: engagement with the community, pro bono work and engagement amongst ourselves,” Alejandra Curiel, third-year law student (3L) at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU and President of CLLSA, said.
Whereas CLLSA emerged from a need for a community, PLLSA emerged from a need for direction.
The President of PLLSA, Fernanda Rubio, a senior studying political science, global health and economics, found that herself and other Latinx pre-law students were lost in the law school application process and didn’t have the necessary resources for success.
Wanting to take action and provide guidance to students that are failed by the scarcity of pre-law resources at ASU, Rubio and a few other students formed PLLSA in January 2020.
Rubio also credited the scarcity of pre-law resources for ASU students as another reason for the formation of the club.
As much as these organizations provide a “leg-up” in student professional lives, they also provide a sense of community for their members.
Notably, the CLLSA has hosted its annual “Fajita Cook-Off” for the last 35 years. At this cook-off, different organizations form teams and compete against each other for the honor of the best fajita recipe. While fun for all involved, the event also serves as a fundraiser for scholarships awarded to current law students.
Even with the differences in audience, methods and missions, both CLLSA and PLLSA give the same kind of support that an underrepresented minority group needs to flourish.
“I think that because of all the help that they have provided to us, I feel in the future, I would definitely want to join an organization like that. Just of how many doors they’ve (CLLSA) opened up for our club, I feel they already offer so much for their members,” said Rubio.
In addition to her organization’s work with Latinx pre-law students, Curiel has a few words of advice for those looking to join the ranks of Latinx lawyers.
“Reach out to us, you’re not alone. I’m a first-generation student and navigating the path to law school was a journey in itself. I didn’t really have anyone else to look up to and to ask these kinds of questions,” Curiel said. “I think many Latinx pre-law students are unfamiliar with the process and we don’t have to feel like we have to figure out everything on our own.”
Contact the reporter at caball2@asu.edu.
