Bravo: A new year begins at IU McKinney

The 2022-23 academic year has begun at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Inlow Hall is bursting with life, ideas and knowledge as faculty, staff, students and alumni return to the building from a summer of scholarship, relaxation, high anticipation and preparation. Joyous greetings ring out in offices and hallways and rich intellectual discussion resounds in classrooms.

Each academic year at IU McKinney is the beginning of a brand new journey. Having thrived and excelled during the depths of the pandemic, we greet the endemic stage with renewed commitment to our mission of legal education and scholarly inquiry.

In August, we welcomed our incoming class of J.D., LL.M. and M.J. students. The orientation week that preceded the first day of classes provided excellent preparation for our new students. Alumni, faculty, staff and returning students came together to share insights about paths to success and fulfillment in law school and the legal profession, techniques to maximize learning and ways to build relationships within the IU McKinney community.

Our students are joining a profession of service and we believe it is crucial to reinforce the importance of service to the community. Our students, staff and faculty took part in IU McKinney’s annual Service Day at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, where IU McKinney alum Fred Glass, J.D. ‘84, serves as president and CEO. Incoming students volunteered at the food bank to help to organize and process donations and to learn about food insecurity in central Indiana.

Orientation week was capped by the Call to the Profession ceremony on the lawn at Inlow Hall. There, our new students absorbed words of wisdom and inspiration from members of the faculty and representatives of the Indiana judiciary who also are IU McKinney alumni, including retired Justice Steven David, J.D. ‘82; Indiana Southern District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson, J.D. ‘83; and Marion Superior Court Judge Alicia Gooden, J.D. ‘96. The students then solemnly took the oath to the profession and officially became members of the legal community and the IU McKinney Law family.

Our new class is remarkable: 59% are women and 20% are members of communities that are underrepresented in the legal community. The incoming J.D. students range in age from 20 to 53. A total of 65 students are the first generation in their families to attend law school, while 11 are military veterans and 33 are members of the LGBTQ community. Many pursued majors in political science prior to enrolling in law school, while others majored in psychology, finance, biology, chemistry and engineering, among others. Several have completed graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines including divinity, health care management and osteopathic medicine. The new students hail from 23 states and nine foreign countries. Our faculty is in for a real treat as they teach and explore the law with this talented group.

The new academic year is only a month old, yet the energy and enthusiasm brought by our new class continues to ripple outward. Our schoolwide Student Organizations Fair rang with sounds of excitement and interest as the new students learned about the many opportunities to join with fellow students in student groups that range from the Entertainment and Sports Law Society to the Second Chance Re-Entry Assistance Program. These avenues for pursuing areas of interest, engaging in advocacy and providing service build our students’ leadership skills, service orientation and professional identities. As the cycle of law school life continues, we know many of them will be staffing those tables next year and will become active members of the bar in years to come.

I know all of us in the law school family eagerly anticipate the future accomplishments of this new class of IU McKinney lawyers.•

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Karen Bravo is the dean of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. Opinions expressed are those of the author.