Page 4 - Briefcase V35 Number 1

BRIEFL Y NO TED BRIEFL Y NO TED

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
As Americans weighed the candidacy of the first woman to run for president on a
major party ticket, panelists met in late October at the University of Houston Law
Center to discuss the lengthy struggle for women’s suffrage that led to passage of the
RANKINGS 19th Amendment.
Three University of Houston Law Center The “American Women Fight to Vote!” panel, held in Krost Hall, was sponsored by the
specialty programs maintained their Top 10 Association of Women in Law, the American Constitution Society for Law, the Sports
rankings in the 2017 U.S. News & World Report & Entertainment Law Organization, and the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
survey of the nation's law schools. Student Group.

The school's Health Law program tied for 3rd “We wanted to provide students and staff with an opportunity to reflect on the eve of this
place while Intellectual Property held the 8th historic election,” said Neeharika Tumati, president of the Association of Women in Law.
position. The Law Center's part-time program UHLC Assistant Professor D. Theodore Rave, Elizabeth Gregory, a UH professor of
remained tied for 6th among the nation's 81 English and director of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and former Law Center
schools that offer such programs. adjunct Professor Judy Dougherty ’78 served as panelists.
The school’s Environment, Energy & Natural The discussion concluded with a screening of “Iron Jawed Angels,” a 2004 film starring
Resources program ranked 28th. Overall, the Hillary Swank as Alice Paul, a women’s rights advocate and strategist in support of the
Law Center ranked 54th among the nation's 197 19th Amendment.
ABA accredited law schools.
"The Law Center is an excellent institution and
remained steady in the rankings," said Dean UHLC PROTECTS ITS BRAND
Leonard M. Baynes. "Working together, we can
continue to move this great institution forward." In October 2016, South Texas College
of Law, which earlier had rebranded
The overall rankings are based on several factors itself as Houston College of Law, agreed
including peer, judicial, and lawyer assessments, to change its name to avoid trial on
undergraduate GPA, LSAT scores, faculty/ a federal trademark suit filed by the
student ratio, bar passage, and employment rate University of Houston. A federal judge
after graduation. ruled in favor of the University of Houston Law Center and issued a preliminary
Specialty programs are ranked by faculty injunction preventing South Texas from using the new name. UH maintained, and
teaching in the field. Part-time rankings are U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison agreed in his order, that the name change and use
based on reputation among deans and faculty of the Law Center’s red and white colors in South Texas’ new branding would likely
at peer schools, LSAT scores, undergraduate cause confusion between the two schools among prospective students and members
of the legal community. An agreement was reached, and the downtown school
GPAs, and the breadth of each school's part- changed its name to South Texas College of Law Houston.
time program.
The Law Center was ranked No. 4 in salary-to-
debt ratio by SoFi.com, a student loan finance
company. The criterion, according to SoFi is DIVERSITY RECOGNIZED
a law school that, "offers great value for your The University of Houston Law Center
investment, with the highest average salary is among four law schools nationwide
relative to average student debt." recognized in September for outstanding
Graduateprograms.com, an online graduate commitment to diversity and inclusion by
school guide, ranked the Law Center ninth INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine.
in career support and 16th in networking, The Law Center and the University of
according to a survey of students and recent Houston are among 83 recipients of the
graduates. The site solicits scores and comments 2016 Higher Education Excellence in
on 15 categories, covering a variety of student Diversity (HEED) Award — the only national award honoring institutions for their
topics, such as academic competitiveness, career efforts on behalf of diversity. INSIGHT Into Diversity is the oldest and largest
support, financial aid and quality of network. diversity-focused publication in higher education.
The school again was recognized as a ‘Best Value’ UHLC was selected for its numerous diversity initiatives, including the Pre-Law
in The National Jurist magazine’s annual survey Pipeline Program, which prepares undergraduate students who are first generation,
and cited as a ‘Most Diverse’ law school by both low income or members of groups underrepresented in the legal profession for a
National Jurist and preLaw magazines. career in law.

2 Briefcase 2017