[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S517-S518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in 1961, when I was deciding where to 
attend law school, I was looking for an institution where I could not 
only learn about the law in the abstract, but also how it is applied, 
interpreted, and written. I was immediately drawn to the Georgetown 
University Law Center, given that is steps from the U.S. Capitol and 
Supreme Court. The education that I received in my years at Georgetown 
Law helped me to understand that the way in which the law is written 
directly impacts the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, 
affirmed the importance of working to uphold and improve the law, and 
guided me toward a career in public service.
  And I am not the only person in the Senate who had this experience at 
Georgetown Law. Senators Hirono, Durbin, Van Hollen, and Sullivan all 
count themselves as alumni. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was my 
classmate. Graduates of Georgetown Law also work in offices across the 
Capitol, including my own, using their legal education to help serve 
constituents, drive measureable change in our communities, and better 
our legal system.
  For many Americans, the events of the past few years have brought 
into focus the importance of preserving our Nation's institutions and 
the collective work that must be done to ensure that they work better 
for all Americans. As a result, thousands more Americans have flocked 
to law school in recent application cycles. With its location in 
Washington, DC, and its wealth of courses, incredible practitioners and 
faculty, and innovative research centers, Georgetown Law has been well-
positioned to take advantage of the heightened interest in the legal 
field.
  For the 2021-2022 academic year, Georgetown University Law Center 
received a record 14,052 applications, an increase of 41 percent of the 
previous year. This incredible achievement demonstrates Georgetown 
Law's strength as a leader in the field of legal education. 
Congratulations to Georgetown University Law Center for this 
exceptional record. I have full confidence that Georgetown Law will 
continue to shape future leaders for years to come, preparing them to 
address the myriad challenges our society faces and to fight for 
justice for every person and every community.
  Dean William Treanor does a superb job of leadership, and we often 
speak of the inspiring path of the law center over so many decades.
  Georgetown University Law Center was featured in an article in the 
Washington Post late last year. I ask unanimous consent that the 
article titled, ``The country's most popular law school got an 
unexpected jolt'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2021]

      The Country's Most Popular Law School Got an Unexpected Jolt

                          (By Valerie Strauss)

       Year in and year out, the Georgetown University Law Center 
     in D.C. gets more applications than any other law school in 
     the country (and yes, that includes law schools at Harvard 
     and Yale and Stanford). But what happened for the 2021-22 
     academic year was historic.
       Collectively, U.S. law schools this year saw an increase of 
     at least 12 percent in applicants for classes that started 
     this fall and a 26 percent jump in applications--the largest 
     in nearly 20 years, according to the nonprofit Law School 
     Admission Council.
       At Georgetown University Law Center, the increase was so 
     high that is shocked Georgetown law officials, who have 
     become accustomed to being the country's most popular law 
     school. The school saw a 41 percent increase in applicants--
     for a total of 14,052. Of all law school applicants 
     nationwide, 1 in 5 applied to Georgetown. It is the largest 
     law school in the country with some 2,000 students in juris 
     doctor degree (JD) programs, with Harvard second at some 
     1,750 JD students.
       The rise in law school applications across the country--
     which left some law schools overenrolled this fall--was a 
     result of several factors, said Susan Krinsky, executive vice 
     president for operations and chief of staff at the Law School 
     Admission Council. ``I don't like to call it a perfect storm, 
     but it was,'' she said.
       Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic played a big role, 
     with economic uncertainty that traditionally fuels 
     applications to professional schools, she said. Many young 
     people lost their jobs and decided to give law school a 
     chance. But a continuation of what is called ``the Trump 
     bump'' was a factor too, she said.
       Law school applications began to rise after the 2016 
     presidential election, with President Donald Trump's Muslim 
     ban and immigration policies helping to fuel the increase, 
     she said. What happened in 2020--including the police killing 
     of George Floyd and the racial justice movement that arose 
     from it--spurred more applicants, she said, as did the death 
     of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the 
     confirmation of a controversial successor.
       ``There was a generalized increase in interest about what 
     lawyers do--or can do,'' she said.
       A 2020 survey by Kaplan Test Prep of more than 100 U.S. law 
     schools found that 84 percent of admissions officers (and 87 
     percent in a 2018 survey) believed that the political climate 
     was a ``significant'' factor in the rise in applicants for 
     that year--and that continued in the 2020-21 applications 
     cycle.
       Why, though, did Georgetown University Law Center have such 
     a huge rise in applicants?
       ``I think it's a combination of things,'' said William M. 
     Treanor, dean and executive vice president of Georgetown Law. 
     ``Washington, D.C., is a huge lure. It offers you things you 
     can't get anywhere else. And we have internships with 
     lawmakers and policymakers and faculty engaged directly in 
     the issues of the day.''
       Georgetown has a night school, joint degree and advanced 
     degree programs, an Office of Public Interest and Community 
     Service and it specializes in some of the hottest legal 
     subjects--including environmental, health and international 
     law. Its Human Rights Institute is a draw for students--and 
     it attracts some big legal names. Now on the faculty, for 
     example, is Doug Emhoff, the country's first second 
     gentleman (he is married to Vice President Harris), a 
     leading intellectual property and business litigator and 
     expert on entertainment and media law.
       Treanor said the political climate was an important factor 
     in the surge of applications at Georgetown. He said he became 
     interested in the law when he was in high school during a 
     similarly contentious time in American political life--the 
     Watergate era of the early 1970s. President Richard Nixon was 
     forced to resign after his administration was caught breaking 
     the law.
       ``That was a period in which people were drawn to law 
     school and the thought that law matters and the fight for 
     justice can

[[Page S518]]

     have real consequences,'' he said. ``This has been a moment 
     where we saw something similar, in politics, the divisions in 
     society, the need for racial justice.''
       It's what cemented Kamal Rattray's decision to apply. The 
     Bronx high school teacher said he had long wanted to become a 
     lawyer, but he applied after his father, who had a green 
     card, was deported to Jamaica by the Trump administration for 
     reasons he still doesn't understand. Rattray's immigrant 
     students feared the same thing could happen to their 
     families, he said.
       ``All the deportations, without due process, that the Trump 
     administration took full advantage of while further 
     disenfranchising communities of color inspired me to go to 
     law school,'' he said. ``I think we need more lawyers of 
     color in order to hold accountable people with ideologies 
     akin to the Trump administration's.''
       Rattray had four law schools to choose from--but Georgetown 
     was a no-brainer, he said. ``I really felt like there was 
     consistent outreach from Georgetown while I was in the 
     application process. I also liked that the school has a Black 
     Law Students Association, and there seems like there is a lot 
     of camaraderie.''
       The school's numbers are also attractive to applicants. 
     Georgetown ranks in the top 10 on the Princeton Review's 
     ranking of law schools for best classroom experience, and it 
     has one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the 
     country. Ninety to 95 percent of students graduate in three 
     years, and more than 95 percent of its students pass the bar 
     exam on their first attempt. Ninety percent of students who 
     graduated in 2020 (the latest year for which there is data) 
     were employed by the time they received their degree, and 
     Georgetown Law is tied for highest median starting salary 
     among graduates working in private practice as associates.
       Law school is expensive--and that's true at Georgetown as 
     well. For 2021-22, the cost of attending full-time is close 
     to $100,000, the school's website says, with $69,280 going to 
     tuition. Seventy-eight percent of this year's entering 
     Georgetown Law class received scholarship aid of some sort.
       The outreach to applicants is led by Andrew Cornblatt, the 
     law school's veteran dean of admissions. Cornblatt makes it a 
     point to stay connected to students who come to campus, and 
     is often stopped on campus by students who just want to say 
     hi.
       ``Most people think of assembling a law school class as 
     putting a puzzle together,'' Cornblatt said. ``For me it's 
     more like creating an orchestra with lots of different 
     instruments, not just violins. I am always struck by how many 
     talented, interesting, well-qualified applicants we receive 
     from all over the world.''
       Working at home during the pandemic, he spent hours each 
     day interviewing 2,700 applicants in small groups. Zoom 
     allowed him to visit 50 states, 37 countries and six 
     continents.
       ``We are looking for applicants who really want to do this 
     and while we are happy to welcome college seniors, we also 
     put great emphasis on work and life experience,'' Cornblatt 
     said. ``Opera singers, veterans, class presidents, Fulbright 
     scholars, football players, Hill staffers, people working in 
     nonprofits fully committed to public service.
       For fall 2021, Georgetown enrolled 561 students from 45 
     states and 17 foreign countries, an acceptance rate of 12.9 
     percent--down from 21 percent a year ago. It was also the 
     most diverse first-year class--with 40 percent identifying as 
     people of color, as compared with 32 percent the previous 
     year. Of the 561, 110 are Opportunity Scholars, which awards 
     scholarships to students with the most significant financial 
     need and high academic credentials. Women constitute 54 
     percent of the class.
       Cornblatt played a key role in persuading Kathie Duperval, 
     24, to attend Georgetown. She was in the final stretch of 
     applying to law school during the 2020 presidential election 
     after a tough year navigating the pandemic and, she said, 
     Georgetown's outreach sold her.
       ``Specifically, Dean Andy made a tremendous effort to form 
     connections with many students during the interview 
     process,'' she said. ``Though virtual, he made sure to 
     connect with us, and he even went out of his way to send 
     personalized videos to admitted students on a weekly basis.''
       For Elena Bacon, 22, the social justice movement that 
     emerged from Floyd's murder changed her legal path. Once 
     seeing herself as a corporate lawyer, she said she now plans 
     to pursue a career in international human rights law so she 
     can advocate for those being denied fundamental freedoms. 
     Georgetown was always at the top of her list, she said, 
     ``because of the number of opportunities it offers for 
     experiential learning, its distinguished Human Rights 
     Institute, and its location in Washington, DC.''
       Now, Cornblatt--a graduate of Harvard University and Boston 
     College law school--is engrossed in leading his 31st 
     admissions season as dean.

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