Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at VLGS
Vermont Law and Graduate School aspires to become a more diverse community where individuals of all races, cultures, ethnicities, classes, religions, ages, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and political views live and learn together in an atmosphere of open communication, acceptance, and understanding.
The VLGS Diversity Report and Plan (now VLGS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) was first created in 1998 to educate the VLGS community about the importance, purpose, goals, and progress of the law school’s diversity efforts. This document is periodically amended and subject to review, comment, and approval by the administration and faculty. It is also provided to the VLGS Board of Trustees for consideration and adoption.
Mission
Law schools control access to the legal profession. In this role, Vermont Law and Graduate School has had an obligation to ensure that individuals who have been traditionally under-represented and have not had the opportunity to enter the profession are able to do so. The broader American society, and indeed the world, is culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse. We live in a global society where technology has largely eliminated geographic and cultural barriers to communication and commerce. To live up to the expectations of its motto, Lex Pro Urbe Et Orbe—Law for the Community and the World—Vermont Law and Graduate School must equip its students with the skills, knowledge, and understanding to reside as citizens and leaders in this increasingly diverse and dynamic world.
VLGS Anti-Racism Statement
Vermont Law and Graduate School Commitment to Anti-Racism and Support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Approved by the VLGS Faculty March 11, 2021
Vermont Law and Graduate School is committed to equity and inclusion. As an institution of higher education, we recognize that the law has too often neglected Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples, as well as members of the LGBTQ community, and has been used to legitimize the inhumane treatment of marginalized groups within these communities. From Tulsa to Flint, from Selma to Stonewall, from mass incarceration to police brutality, experience has proven that justice in America is not, in fact, blind.
Therefore, we commit to the fight against inherent ignorance, intolerance, and racial and social injustice, through teaching and scholarship, research and practice, open discussion, and public events. We believe in providing a learning environment that is inclusive of all people, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, nationality, ethnicity, ability, age, or socioeconomic class.
As a community, we are implementing anti-racism practices and pedagogy. We support and celebrate diversity through the efforts described in Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan.
Definitions
Diversity is a globally accepted concept that brings different people into the same place or territory. Inclusion introduces concrete methods and strategies to make diversity work. Equity among all people is the result.
- DIVERSITY is the existence of variations of different characteristics in a group of people that make us unique, such as cognitive skills and personality traits, along with things that shape our identity, such as race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, and cultural background.
- INCLUSION refers to the procedures organizations implement to integrate everyone in the workplace, allowing their difference to coexist in a mutually beneficial way. The goal of inclusion strategies is to make everyone feel accepted and comfortable, ready to share their opinions and thoughts without hesitation.
- EQUITY(Equality) is justice free from bias or favoritism.
Resources
Here are additional resources from LSAC and the American Bar Association.
Accessibility
Read more about our disability policies and procedures.