MENU

  • Lavender Law

    Annual Conference


  • Membership

    Join Us!


  • DEI

    Consulting Practice


  • Education

    Series

Climate Survey 2021

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

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

March 23, 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?

McGeorge intentionally seeks out prospective LGBTQ+ students by highlighting our LGBTQ+ students and student org and utilizing a scholarship designated for LGBTQ+ students.

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?
No
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:

The application itself has 3 questions regarding identify. 

1. What Gender were you assigned at birth?

2. What is your current gender?

3. Do you consider yourself to be a member of the

LGBTQ community? (Optional)    Yes  No

b. If 'yes,' how many students are currently enrolled at your law school in total?:
659
c. If 'yes,' how many self-identified LGBTQ+ students are currently enrolled at your law school, in total?:
Not reported

Our current reporting platform does not pull data from the optional application question regarding self-identification as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, so we cannot provide additional data at this time. However, gender designations and personal pronoun fields are expected to be built in our reporting platform and will be reportable data soon.

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

We have one donor specific scholarship that can be awarded to incoming LGBTQ+ students and returning/continuing students.

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:

This was the first year in several that we were able to hire three faculty positions, one tenure track and two long-term contract track. Diversity in hiring was a focus for us throughout these searches. We also have continued to make an effort to hire diverse faculty as adjuncts. We follow AAEEOO requirements and have a champion of diversity designated on every search committee. In addition, we reach out to the local bar association, and affiliate bar associations, as well as the Inn of Court when advertising for open full-time and adjunct faculty positions. Our full-time faculty searches for contract faculty are ongoing, but our tenure-track position has been filled by a candidate who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The new professor will start in July 2021.

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?:
No
9. How many faculty (not staff/administrators) are employed by your law school in total?
We have 33 full-time faculty, including our Librarian and our Director of Externships, who also have some administrative roles. We have approximately 50-60 adjuncts per semester.
10. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ faculty are employed by your law school in total?
7 total - including 4 full-time and 3 adjunct.
a. With reference to #10, how many LGBTQ+ faculty self-identify as people of color?
Two – one full time and one adjunct.
Lesbian?
No full time faculty and 1 adjunct faculty. Our new colleague starting in July identifies as lesbian.
Gay?
4 full time faculty and 2 adjunct faculty.
Bisexual/Pansexual?
Unknown
Transgender / Nonbinary?
Unknown
Queer or member of gender/sexual orientation minority group?
Unknown
11. How many staff/administrators (not faculty) are employed by your law school in total?
We have 48 law school staff, and three faculty members who are currently performing exclusively administrative roles.
12. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ staff/administrators are employed by your law school in total?
3
a. With reference to #12, how many LGBTQ+ staff/administrators self-identify as people of color?
1
Lesbian?
Zero
Gay?
1
Bisexual / Pansexual?
2
Transgender / Nonbinary?
Unknown
Queer or member of gender/sexual orientation minority group?
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.)?
Yes
c. If you answered 'yes' to #13a AND/OR if you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #13b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Benefit Guide

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?
Yes
a. If 'yes' or ‘unsure,’ please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Benefit Guide

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?
Yes
a. If yes, are those student benefits available on equal terms to students in same-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships as they are to students in different- sex marital/domestic partnership relationships?
Yes
b. If you answered yes to #15, are those student benefit plans inclusive of the specific needs of LGBTQ+ students (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 students of all genders, etc.)?
Yes
c. If you answered yes to #15a AND/OR if you answered yes or unsure to #15b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here

Summary of Benefits

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?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Transgender Student Services

The student insurance plan is a student only plan. It does not cover spouses and children.

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.):

Pacific is committed to its transgender students, faculty and staff. Intercultural Student Success Department has various training on ensuring that our campuses are safe zones.

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?
No
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

We have many single-stall and/or multi-stall restrooms available to people of all genders (i.e., gender-neutral, safe space restrooms) in some of our law school buildings, but not all buildings at this point.

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.)?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please list course names:

We offer Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity every year or every other year, depending on faculty availability. We also have a new course on Reproductive Rights that touches on some LGBTQ+ issues.

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

McGeorge’s Career Development Office offers reimbursement of up to $150.00 (per student, per academic year) to help defray the costs associated with attending professional conferences and recruiting events, including the LGBT Bar’s Lavender Law® Conference and Career Fair. McGeorge’s Public Legal Services Society (PLSS) offers summer internship grants for students in the public sector or public interest, which includes legal organizations that promote LGBTQ+ rights, such as the Family Equality Council, which advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Our Washington, DC Fellowship also funds public interest and public sector internships in DC, which has included an internship with the DC office of the Family Equality Council.

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
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.
Other
a. If you selected other, please describe your diversity and inclusion training options:

The law school has offered Safe Zone and Allyship Training to faculty, staff, students, and administrators on a regular basis. The law school also includes two diversity and inclusion training sessions for students, one during orientation and one as part of the law school’s required first-year Legal Profession course each year. The trainings address, among other topics, LGBTQ+ issues.

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:

• The law school has an on-campus, law student-focused Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) that explicitly serves, among others, LGBTQ+ students.  The CID is staffed by professionals, faculty, staff, and students who are trained to support the students served by the CID.

• The law school’s largest privately-funded scholarship is the Jeffrey K. Poile Memorial Civil Rights Scholarship (for students with a demonstrated commitment to the furtherance of LGBTQ+ rights).  The law school hosts an annual alumni event to support the Poile Scholarship.

• The law school hosts an annual drag show in which faculty, staff, administrators, and students participate, also as a fundraiser for the Poile Scholarship.

• The law school has regularly offered a Safe Zone and Allyship Training to faculty, staff, students.

• The law school delivers two diversity and inclusion training sessions for students, one during orientation and one as part of the law school’s required first-year Legal Profession course.