1. Does your law school intentionally seek out LGBTQ+ prospective students?
Yes
2. Does your law school's welcome packet for admitted students include mention of identity group support for LGBTQ+ students, as well as for students of color or other minorities?
Yes
BU Outlaw is the affinity group for LGBTQIA students, and we have several other affinity groups based on identity.
3. Does your school offer students the option to self-identify as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications or post-enrollment forms?
Yes
Our application has an optional question,” Do you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, or asexual?”
4. Does your law school offer transgender students who have not legally changed their names the ability to have their name of choice on admission applications or post enrollment forms?
Yes
Yes, we ask both preferred name and “If your strongest gender identity differs from your legal sex, and you would like to share it with us, you may do so here”
5. Does your law school provide any annual scholarships specifically for LGBTQ+ students?
No
6. Does your law school provide funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and career services opportunities?
Yes
a. If so, please provide details and examples of when and how those opportunities have been utilized.
The Dean provides a Conference Fund to support students traveling to conferences. http://www.bu.edu/law/current-students/student-affairs-programs-resources/publications-resources/
7. Does your law school actively seek to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including visible, out LGBTQ+ individuals?
Yes
a. If so, please detail how and where recruitment efforts are directed
BU recruits our faculty through AALS, through professional networks, and a number of professional associations.
8. Please identify, to your knowledge, how many out LGBTQ+ faculty your law school employs (if any)
4 full-time faculty; part-time is unknown
a. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure,' please describe your school's process for collecting this data
Lesbian
2
Gay
2
How many out LGBTQ+ faculty of color does your institution currently employ in total?
1
9. Please identify, to your knowledge, how many out LGBTQ+ staff/administrators?
6
Lesbian
1
Gay
5
Queer
1
How many out LGBTQ+ staff members/administrators of color does your institution currently employ in total?
3
10. Does your law school provide benefits such as health insurance, family medical leave, parental leave, and nontraditional family planning such as in vitro fertilization and/or adoptive benefits on equal terms to same-sex couples who are married or in registered domestic partnerships as are provided to different-sex married or registered domestic partner couples?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here
11. Does your law school offer the aforementioned health benefits to students and their same-sex spouses/partners?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here
12. Does your law school offer transition-related health benefits to transgender and/or transitioning employees?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here
13. Does your school offer the same transition-related healthcare benefits to students and their partners/spouses?
Yes
a. If so, please summarize or reproduce your policy here (or you may email a copy of your policy to rishell@lgbtbar.org):
I would have benefited from a not sure option
14. Do all students at your law school have access to counseling and/or therapy services either through the law school or the larger University?
Yes
15. Does your law school provide at least bi-annual mandatory diversity and inclusion training that incorporates robust LGBTQ+ curriculum, for all staff/faculty/administrators?
No
16. Does your law school provide a gender-inclusive restroom in any and/or all law school buildings?
Yes
a. How is that restroom identified (i.e., what does the signage say, is it identified on building maps, is there a gender-inclusive restroom policy that applies to all restrooms and where is that statement published, etc.)?
Identified as gender inclusive; listed in handbooks with policy; reiterated at recruitment days.
17. Does your law school have one or more annual LGBTQ+ course offerings (e.g., LGBT Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation and the Law, Gender and the Law (taught with trans-inclusive and focused materials), etc.)?
Yes
a. If so, please list course names
Law and Sexual Minorities: JD 957
18. Does your law school have an active, visible LGBTQ+ law student group that is supported by the institution?
Yes
Outlaw
19. Does your law school have a hate/bias incident policy that students are required to follow?
Yes
a. If so, does that process specifically identify sexual orientation, gender identity, or both as protected categories?
b. is there a clear hate bias/incident reporting process for students/faculty/staff to utilize if necessary?
Yes
20. Please describe all additional ways, not identified through your responses, that your law school works to be safe, inclusive, and welcoming to LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and administrators:
Educational series, “Critical Conversations,” clinical training, student know-your-rights
To clarify, while we don’t intentionally seek out LGBTQIA students, but we value a diverse class, and seek out qualified LGBTQIA students who contribute meaningfully to the excellence of BU.