Academic Counseling
Continuing and new students receive personal guidance related to study habits, course planning, exam preparations, etc. Get advice on proven tactics for success!
Alumni Connect
The Sunset Reception is a diversity networking event for students and legal professionals in the San Diego community in order to honor our student leaders and community mentors. Diversity Services also awards one outstanding student leader and one outstanding community mentor.
The Spring Diversity Mixer is a networking event hosted by Diversity Services, Career and Professional Development Office, and the Diversity Coalition of Student Organizations. It brings the diverse legal professionals in San Diego together with California Western diverse students and highlights the accomplishments of the Diversity Coalition.
American Bar Association Judicial Clerkship Program (ABA JCP)
The Judicial Clerkship Program is a joint effort of the American Bar Association Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the Judicial Division. The program is designed to introduce judicial clerkship opportunities to students of color and to expand their professional opportunities. Eligible second-year students are invited to apply to attend the program which is held during the American Bar Association's mid-year meeting.
Bar Connect
The Bar Connect Program brings together underrepresented students with local attorneys and judges who provide role modeling, guidance, scholarship and employment resources, and mentoring support.
Events like the Diversity Mixers, Women of Color in Law Luncheon, ABA Judicial Clerkship Program and SDCBA Diversity Fellowship Program support our mentoring mission. Students become associated with legal professionals in formal and informal settings that provide pre-professional development opportunities.
Diversity Services arranges for students to attend and participate in special events by various local diversity bar associations. Scholarship dinners, community picnics and continuing legal education (CLE's) are the most popular bar association events.
Diversity Fellowship Program
The Diversity Fellowship Program is a collaboration with the San Diego County Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel-San Diego, California Western's Career and Professional Development Office and the Diversity Committee. The program was created in response to the low number of diverse attorneys practicing law in San Diego County law firms and corporate legal departments.
Diversity Speaker Series
Diversity Services invites local and national experts to come to California Western to give keynote addresses on topics relating to diversity in the law. The series takes place in the Fall and Spring trimester and focus on social justice issues current in legal discourse.
Diversity Week
Diversity Week is a partnership between Diversity Services and the Diversity Coalition of Student Organizations. Each year the entire California Western community enjoys a week long program consisting of a special library display, debate and ethnic food fairs.
Multicultural Celebrations
Diversity Services celebrates special holidays like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Harvey Milk Day, NoRooz, Lunar New Year, and Cesar Chavez Day. At the end of the fall trimester Diversity Services hosts the Multicultural Holiday Reception in which we showcase various holidays celebrated by the diverse cultures represented at California Western.
Unique displays including books, video documentaries, posters and cultural artifacts are available for browsing several times a year.
New-to-Law-School Counseling
New students receive one-on-one counseling to help them identify law school resources and to discuss best practices for success. Get advice on proven tactics for success!
Peer Mentoring
Our Buddy Program matches new students are matched with an upper division mentors during their first year. Mentors provide encouragement, friendship and helpful advice on surviving the rigorous first year of law school.
A word from a Buddy...
"I signed up for the Buddy Program hoping to meet an upper classman who would take me under their wing. I found exactly what I was looking for. My buddy was very kind, caring and approachable. She would text me periodically to check up on me. Although not a tutor, she would look over my outlines and advised me to speak to a professor if something seemed out of place. She also texted me before and after finals to make sure I was okay. These are the type of amazing individuals who are involved in the this program."
Taylor Williams, Class of 2017
Personal Counseling
Students receive problem solving assistance and leadership development support in the office of Diversity Services. Never hesitate to ask for support and assistance when you need it!
Pre-Law Programs
A.I.M. for Law, which stands for "Achieve. Inspire.Motivate.", is a pipeline program for diverse undergraduates at SDSU and UCSD that prepares them for the rigors of law school and for the law school application process. Students meet once a week to practice for the LSAT, brief legal cases, and learn how to make written and oral arguments. As part of the program, practicing attorneys and current law students mentor students in the process of applying to and paying for law school. Those who successfully complete the program are eligible for application fee waivers at CWSL.
Law High is an outreach program in which Diversity Services partners with local high schools to introduce the students to the law school environment and legal education. Students from inner city San Diego high schools, the majority of whom are members of minority and immigrant families, are invited to California Western for a day where they receive an overview of the path to law school, participate in small group discussions relating to legal issues and hear from law student mentors who overcame disadvantage and difficulties on the road to law school. By the end of the day the students are more knowledgeable about the law, the legal profession and law school. The program supports California Western's mission to train lawyers representative of our diverse society.
Women of Color in Law Luncheon
The luncheon is hosted by Judge Vallera Johnson in order to give students and attorneys an opportunity to learn about the legal community and issues that face women in the legal community. Attendees are women college students, law students, attorneys and judges of color and those who support them.