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Founded in 1968, CLEO is the longest-serving national organization with a presentation on resources available to students at DiscoverLaw.
dedicated to expanding opportunities for minority and low-income org and an overview of the law school admissions process. Tiffany
students to attend law school. Since its inception, more than 10,000 Tucker, Assistant Dean for Career Development, encouraged students to
students have participated in CLEO’s programs and joined the legal maintain a professional presence when using social media platforms.
profession. Attendees got a glimpse into courtroom litigation as Law Center staff
“I am truly honored and humbled to receive this award from CLEO, an held a mock trial on the fictional case, Cinderella v. Estate of Padre Mia
organization that has been a pioneer in providing opportunities to a Tremaine.
diverse student population,” said Tennessee. “This achievement does not In an alumni panel discussion, Fermeen Fazal ’00, Jolanda Jones ’95
belong to me alone, but to the entire Law Center community. It takes a and Raymond Randle ’97 shared their journeys to becoming successful
village to go from barely 20 percent diversity in the mid 1990’s to over lawyers. Jones told students not to be afraid to ask questions when they
40 percent in 2018. The work is not done, by any means. There will need clarification on a specific topic.
always be a need to support diversity in the legal profession.”
Later in October, nearly 300 high school and undergraduate college “We are designed to handle everything by ourselves all the time, and it is
not a sign of weakness when you need to ask help from somebody,” Jones
students received an inside look at the legal profession and learned said. “Whatever law school you go to, you’re going to get out of it what
about the Pre-Law Pipeline Program during Diversity Matters Day in you put into it and you can get a very good legal education.”
Krost Hall at the Law Center. The event was geared toward racially
and ethnically diverse high school and college students in an effort to Houstonia magazine featured the Law Center and its diversity initiatives
diversify the legal profession. and accolades in its December issue available on newsstands this month.
Assistant Dean for Admissions Pilar Mensah kicked off the program
Sondra Tennessee 2018 CLEO Edge

Diversity Award Winner

Since joining the Law Center’s administration in 1996,
Associate Dean for Student Affairs Sondra Tennessee has
fostered educational outreach efforts to diverse populations
at all levels, from grade school to pre-law undergraduates. She
has established partnerships with various pre-law pipeline
programs, including CLEO, the Law School Preparation
Institute at The University of Texas campuses in El Paso, San
Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley as well as with advisers at
historically black colleges and universities.
She also has mentored countless numbers of diverse pre-
law students as they work their way through the admissions
process and continues to advise J.D. and LL.M. students while
in law school and beyond.
Tennessee welcomed students to Diversity Matters Day by
sharing her four Ps to success – plan, prioritize, publicize, and
persist.

“It’s been said that whatever you’re doing between age 15 and
25 is what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life,” Tennessee
said. “That doesn’t mean that you have to know what you are
going to do today, but you are establishing the foundation of
how you are going to get there.
“So are you going to be a person that works on purpose? Are
you a person who’s prepared? Do you make the connections
and publicize what you’re interested in? And then do you
Associate Dean for Student Affairs Sondra project those things? Those are the things you can do now that
Tennessee, 2018 CLEO Edge Diversity Award are going to help you succeed in your goals.”
Winner.

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