To: USF Law Student Bar Association

Cc: Grace Hum, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs

University of San Francisco School of Law
2199 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
From: USF La Raza Law Student Association
Cc: Monica Valencia, President
University of San Francisco School of Law
RE: Open Letter to SBA & USF Law regarding Diversity & Inclusion
This is an open letter to address the recent SBAs Student Organization Awards held last
week, but more importantly, the lack of transparency and inclusion for student organizations at
USF Law that uplift students of color. It has come to our attention that TESLA won half of the
awards presented by the SBA, and in fact, BLSA did not win any despite being nominated.
Although La Raza won one award, the clear lack of recognition for diversity, inclusion and
advocacy for social justice is an issue at USF Law and in the student body.
La Raza began the school year with a 3-person board and slowly expanded by adding 1L
representatives to their roster and then filled other positions in the Spring semester. Despite the
lack of board members, La Raza has spearheaded many innovative ideas and consistently and
superbly organized meaningful events. They have tirelessly fundraised for their Latino
graduation, they have built lasting community connections both in legal and social justice arenas,
and increased their presence in the law school since the last couple years. Their members have
been awarded throughout the year with scholarships, fellowships, pro bono awards, and post-bar
positions because of their active engagement.
BLSA began the year with a strong board and carried their momentum throughout the
year with community volunteer opportunities like feeding the homeless, connecting their
members with practitioners in the legal field as seen by their Fireside Chat series and even
collaborated with MELSA on the From Ferguson to Palestine event. Despite the evidence that
shows strong advocacy and engagement, student organizations of color seem to be subjugated
into a not worthy category. Although we do not want to diminish the work that TESLA has
done, we respectfully note, that several other organization are as deserving (if not more) of some
of the same awards.
We ask then, where is the transparency? Who is choosing the awards? What are the
guidelines for the work that the students put it? How is it measured? Who oversees this process?
It is widely known that the SBA is a clique, for lack of better words. That is, the SBA is
elected based on popularity and privilege and if you are not part of the clique, you will not
be elected (or accepted) in. They dictate awards, funding, and overall support for student
organizations. There then, lies the struggle for minorities and students of color to continuously
have to fight for their place in society and for their place at USF Law. Look at the composition of
the SBA in the past years. They have not been very diverse nor friendly to accepting students of
color in executive leadership roles. This type of marginalization helps to bolster a racial divide

and helps nurture a race, sex, and class hierarchy, which is apparent by the wall photos of USF
Law alumni Judges in the Moot Court Room. There has been some serious consensus around
this on campus and this is what students talk about in the hallway, even if they dont want to
speak up. La Raza cares enough to speak up and we want to be heard, otherwise this will
continue to be the ongoing culture that we help foster on our campus.
The actions, hard work, tenacity, passion and dedication of students of color at USF Law
are going unnoticed and this is a mistake. With this letter, we demand attention, we demand
for you to take notice and we demand to be heard.
Although this letter is premised on the SBA Student Organization Awards, there are
deeper rooted issues surrounding race, class, and sex at USF Law. Frankly, this letter is much
more about institutional issues, than an organizational award. BLSA just held a Black Minds
Matter event to express their experiences at this school. La Raza and other organizations have
not joined in the conversation, but it is time that we do.
For years, the privilege that permeates from the majority of the student body helps to
encapsulate minorities and students of color into a box of invisibility and hyper-visibility. When
USF Law needs to promote diversity that is when we matter. Any other time, we remain
invisible. If USF Law prides itself on inclusion and diversity, then let us not just be a number in
the schools statistics. Educate the privileged on diversity and what inclusion really means. Help
foster a united student body instead of helping to create color lines and boundaries.
We promote diversity and social justice at USF Law, but actually, what matters most is
how good we actually look to the outside world. Recently, is was brought to our attention that
TESLA received between $600-$800 to bring someone from Google to campus along with a
Board of Trustee member to their event, which OCP offered to cater. OCP has never offered
to cater any event by students of color. Just last week, La Raza put together No Ms Bebs:
Film Screening & Panel Discussion, and the SBA and the administration were reluctant in
giving us any funding. The funding that we did receive was collected through the tireless efforts
of the board members. La Raza brought in a community lawyer and even the director of the film
to create a dialogue surrounding involuntary sterilization. Surely this topic would warrant more
concrete financial support. If administrative bodies show support for some groups or some
causes more than others, it sends a very clear message that equity does not stand at the
forefront of this institution for all students.
We finally have a female SBA president. Why is it so hard to believe that women are
equally as capable to be in leadership positions? Or that women can have children and be
successful as well? Students have been complaining about female students bringing their
children to campus, yet there are numerous private and public universities that support children
on campus. So, ask yourselves thiswhere is the disconnect? Where is the inclusion? What
message is the SBA sending as student body representatives and what message is the school
sending as educators and promoters of justice? We ask that you truly take a step back to let this
letter sink in.

We have to do more than just accept students of color to promote diversity and provide
an academic support program. There are six undocumented students at USF Law and they
worry about whether they will be able to stay enrolled next semester. Two of these
individuals believe that they will have to defer. Undocumented students are only eligible for
private loans and scholarships. In fact, they must navigate their place here at USF Law on top of
worrying about finding a U.S. citizen to co-sign for their private loans, which are already
competitive. And lets not mention the retention rates of students of color either.
Diversity goes beyond what you are currently doing. We need to address the needs of USF
students of color by educating our student body population on the importance of creating an
inclusive environment that does not push students of color to the outer limits. Acknowledge the
accomplishments of our diverse student community with a transparent structure that is much
needed in both SBA and the USF Law administration and create the change that we need to
better our place at USF Law. We hope that you will take this letter into consideration and we
welcome any open dialogue.
Respectfully,
La Raza Law Students Association
University of San Francisco School of Law