Our “For Admitted Students” webpage https://www.drake.edu/law/future/admitted/ provides a link to all law school student organizations including an email contact for a student representative and links to each organization’s webpage or social media account(s) if applicable. The Drake Law official LGBT student group, Outlaws, is included in this listing. Outlaws will also send a welcome letter to admitted students who self-identify as LGBTQIA+. Admitted students who self-identify as LGBTQ+ are among those invited to a diversity reception at the beginning of each academic year.
Yes, students may self-identify as LGBTQIA+ on the Drake Law School application.
Admission application forms require names to match LSAT/LSAC registrations, however, our application does have a “preferred name” field for use in our communications. Once enrolled, university policy offers students the option to use a preferred first name wherever legal name is not absolutely necessary.
After enrollment, we require students to signup for the Simplicity system handled by career services. In Simplicity, students are encouraged to update their preferred gender pronouns, and those options include “Mx.” We use Simplicity to do a post-enrollment check of pronouns, so that should the preferred pronouns not match registration records, the faculty of the student are notified and can use the preferred pronoun.
Drake Law School has an endowed scholarship specifically for LGBTQIA+ law students. Drake awarded the scholarship for the first time in July 2018.
In the career services area, the staff highlights and connects students to opportunities that are favorable to LGBTQIA students. They also connect LGBTQIA students to mentors in the legal community on request.
As for funding, Drake indirectly supports the official student group for LGBTQIA+ students, Outlaws, by providing funds to the Student Bar Association who then allocates those funds to official student groups based on their budgetary requests. The budgetary request of Outlaws can include funds to travel to LGBTQIA+ events, and a student did attend an LGBT themed law conference in St. Louis in Spring Semester 2015.
Yes. For most recent faculty recruitment, we posted the positions on the National LGBT Bar Association website.
The University doesn’t offer health benefits to any student
Unfortunately, coverage for transgender services are not specifically addressed in the Insurance Summary Plan Description (SPD), which is common practice. Following is verbiage provided by Wellmark regarding Drake’s benefit:
“There is Prior Authorization required for the transgender surgeries, but other services are covered without medical policy applications, which is why it is silent in the SPD. Non-surgical related services are subject to medical necessity like any other services.”
The University doesn’t offer health benefits to any student
Our school does offer diversity and inclusion training which includes LGBT+ training, however the training is not mandatory
The Law School provides gender-inclusive restrooms (with locks) in its buildings. The signage identifies the restrooms as being available for any gender or person with access limitations. The University’s office of Student Engagement Equity & Inclusion provides a campus map with these available locations to the LGBTQ community.
Sexuality and the Law offered Spring 2019, then rescheduled for Fall 2019
Yes
- A standing committee on diversity and inclusion;
- An annual diversity week of events;
- Faculty/staff training last year with Tony Tyler, director of student engagement equity and inclusion at Drake University, on LGBTQIA issues;
- Many faculty who attended that training display “safe spaces” signs on their door; and
- Had trans advocate Ellie Krug here Nov. 2016 to do talks on Trans 101, Being a Trans lawyer and a faculty/student/staff workshop on gray area thinking.
The Drake admission office primarily addresses LGBTQIA+ recruitment on an individual basis. When a prospective or admitted student self-identifies as LGBTQIA+ the admission office provides contact information for the president of our LGBT student organization and/or the faculty advisor.