[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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