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Climate Survey 2021

Connect, Share Knowledge, and Succeed Within the LGBTQ+ and Ally Legal Community.

Elon University School of Law

March 31, 2021

Question 1 provided each school with a field to confirm or update their nondiscrimination statement.
 
2. Does your law school intentionally seek out LGBTQ+ prospective students?
Yes
a. If ‘yes,’ how and where are your efforts directed?

Admissions has at times sent emails to prospective candidates who identified themselves as LGBTQ+ in the LSAC Candidate Referral Service; these emails highlighted the law school’s Outlaw student organization and other opportunities in the community.

3. 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
4. Does your school offer students the option to self-identify (also known as "Self-ID") as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications or post-enrollment forms?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please describe your student Self-ID process:

Once students are admitted they are asked to complete a New Student Survey that asks, among other things, how they identify pertaining to race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We also ask for their preferred prefix and pronouns. All of these questions are optional.

b. If 'yes,' how many students are currently enrolled at your law school in total?:
287, as of February 1, 2021. Our 3L class graduates in December, so they are not reflected in these numbers.
c. If 'yes,' how many self-identified LGBTQ+ students are currently enrolled at your law school, in total?:
19
d. If 'yes,' how many of your currently enrolled LGBTQ+ students also self-identify as people of color?
4
Lesbian?
3
Gay?
4
Bisexual/ Pansexual?
8
Transgender / Nonbinary?
3
Queer or member of gender/sexual orientation minority group?
3
5. Does your law school offer transgender and nonbinary students who have not legally changed their names the ability to have their name-in-use reflected on their admission applications or post enrollment forms?:
Yes
6. Does your law school provide any annual scholarships specifically for LGBTQ+ students?
Yes

Alumni-funded scholarship of $1,000 awarded to a rising 2L or 3L. One-time, non-renewable award. It will exist until funds are depleted.

7. Does your law school actively seek to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including openly LGBTQ+ individuals?:
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please detail how and where diversity recruitment efforts are directed:

The faculty search committee uses professional networks and publications to advertise and recruit candidates for faculty positions. It is a top priority for the search committee to diversify the faculty.

8. Does your law school conduct a "Self-ID" program which allows staff/faculty/administrators to voluntarily and (if they desire) confidentially identify their gender identity and sexual orientation?:
Unsure
a. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure,' please describe your school's process for collecting this data

We were unable to obtain this information from HR.

9. How many faculty (not staff/administrators) are employed by your law school in total?
25
10. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ faculty are employed by your law school in total?
Unknown
11. How many staff/administrators (not faculty) are employed by your law school in total?
32
12. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ staff/administrators are employed by your law school in total?
Unknown
13. Does your law school provide employee benefits such as health insurance, family medical leave, parental leave, and nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' are those employee benefits available on equal terms to employees in same-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships as they are to employees in different-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships?
Yes
b. If you answered 'yes' to #13, are those employee benefit plans inclusive of the specific needs of LGBTQ+ employees (i.e., are assisted reproductive benefits offered without the need for extended traditional attempts at pregnancy, are care techniques such as mammograms, prostate exams, hysterectomies, etc. available to employees of all genders, are parental leave policies equal for people of all genders, etc.)?
Unsure
c. If you answered 'yes' to #13a AND/OR if you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #13b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Answer left blank

14. Does your law school offer transition-related health benefits including hormone therapy, gender counseling, gender-affirming surgeries, etc. to transgender/nonbinary employees and employees who are undergoing gender transition?
Unsure
a. If 'yes' or ‘unsure,’ please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Answer left blank

15. Does your law school offer a student benefit plan including health insurance with nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits, and/or any additional benefits such as access to campus facilities?
No

The school does not offer health insurance to students.

16. Does your school offer the same transition-related healthcare benefits to students and their partners/spouses who are transgender/nonbinary or undergoing gender transition?
No
17. Do all students at your law school have access to on-campus health, counseling and therapy services either through the law school or the larger University?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' are your school's on-campus health care providers trained to ensure they can provide culturally and clinically competent care to LGBTQ+ patients, particularly transgender and nonbinary patients?
Yes
b. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #17a, please provide the basis for your answer (i.e., counseling center language, etc.):

From the Counseling Services website: https://www.elon.edu/u/health-wellness/counseling-services/

We are committed to embracing diversity in all its forms as a core value of our agency. We are a multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary, and multi-theoretical staff striving to provide culturally competent clinical services and community interventions. We are dedicated to promoting an environment of respect and appreciation for the race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, age, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, physical/mental ability, and socioeconomic status of all students. We aim to provide a safe, welcoming, and affirming environment for all persons who utilize our services.

18. Does your law school provide single-stall and/or multi-stall restrooms available to people of all genders (i.e., gender-neutral restrooms) in each law school building so that transgender/nonbinary people have a safe restroom space?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please describe how those all-gender restroom(s) is/are identified (i.e., what does the signage say, is it identified on building maps and online resources), the number of all-gender restroom stalls available in each law school building, and whether these are accessible for people with disabilities in each building or floor

There are four all-gender, accessible bathrooms in the main building of the law school. They are designated with a “Universal” sign.

19. If your law school is maintaining gender-segregated (i.e., "Women's Restroom" and "Men's Restroom") restroom stalls, does it have a policy applicable to those facilities which ensures that transgender/nonbinary students/staff/administrators/faculty, as well as anyone who does not meet gender stereotypes, have access to facilities that match their gender identity?
No
20. Does your law school have one or more annual LGBTQ+ specific course offerings (e.g., LGBTQ+ Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation and the Law, Gender and the Law (focused on trans-inclusive materials), etc.)?
No, but LGBTQ+ content is included in other courses
b. If you answered 'no, but LGBTQ+ content is included in other courses' to #20, please list course names AND approximately what percentage of course time is dedicated to LGBTQ+ content for each course:

Employment Law

21. Does your law school have an active LGBTQ+ law student group that is supported by the administration?
Yes

OutLaw is provided with annual funding from our Student Bar Association.

22. Does your law school provide funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and/or career services opportunities?
Yes
a. If yes please provide details and examples of when and how those opportunities have been utilized in the past three years:

Students may apply to the Office of Career & Student Development for professional development funds. Those funds have not been utilized in the past three years. Our office also promotes specific opportunities for LGBTQIA+ career fairs.

23. Does your law school have a hate/bias incident policy that faculty, staff/administrators, and students are required to follow?
Yes
a. If yes to #23, does that process specifically identify sexual orientation AND/OR gender identity/expression as protected categories?
Yes, both
b. If yes to #23, does the policy set out a clear hate bias/incident reporting process for faculty, staff/administrators, and students to utilize if necessary?
Yes

https://www.elon.edu/u/ceie/bias-response/

24. Does your law school provide mandatory anti-sexual harassment training that explicitly covers same-sex harassment and harassment of transgender/nonbinary people, for all staff/faculty/administrators, at least every three years?
Yes
25. Does your law school provide diversity and inclusion training that incorporates robust LGBTQ+ curriculum as well as anti-racism curriculum, at least every three years? NOTE: Please check all that apply.
Yes, mandatory for all students
a. If you selected other, please describe your diversity and inclusion training options:

Students are required to attend DEI and anti-racism training during the August term of their first year. I don’t know that I would say that the LGBTQ+ curriculum is “robust,” but we do cover topics related to the LGBTQ+ community.

26. Please describe all additional ways, not identified through your earlier responses, in which your law school works to be safe, inclusive, and welcoming for its LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and administrators:

We are certainly a work in progress pertaining to LGBTQIA+ concerns and issues, and we work closely with our main campus Gender Resource Center to ensure our LGBTQIA+ students feel supported and a sense of belonging. We work with our students to implement programs and events that they would like to see, and support them in their career development. Our hiring processes are very decentralized and we therefore do not have a good sense of representation among faculty, staff, and administrators.