John Marshall has welcomed its 2017 entering class with 263 JD students, up from 255 JD students last year.
This is the first fall class to start under Dean Darby Dickerson, whose appointment as John Marshall Dean became effective January 1. Dickerson joined John Marshall from Texas Tech University School of Law where she had been Dean since 2011 and also holds the W. Frank Newton Endowed Professorship. From 2003 until 2011, Dickerson served as the Interim Dean and Dean of Stetson University College of Law.
John Marshall’s new students continue to reflect the law school’s longstanding mission of access and opportunity. More than half of the new JD class – 54 percent – are women and 36 percent identify as minorities.
John Marshall’s community is made up of more than 50 student organizations that represent the diverse interests and pursuits of the student body. These organizations include the Women’s Law Caucus, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Latino Law Students Association and Middle Eastern Law Students Association. Student leaders from many of these organizations comprise the Multicultural Leadership Council, which works to ensure that John Marshall remains at the forefront of diversity and inclusion. Additionally, the Academic Enhancement Program, developed by the Latino Law Students Association and run by the Office of Diversity Affairs, offers students a forum for course review through weekly assessments and practice exams.
Founded in 1899, John Marshall was a pioneer in opening its doors and admitting minorities, women and immigrants. The law school graduated its first female student, Jessie Cook, in 1903; its first African-American student, James Randle, in 1904; and its first Hispanic student, William E. Rodriguez, in 1912. Today, with over 35 percent of the student body at John Marshall composed of minority students, the law school’s student body is one of the most diversified in the nation, according to preLaw magazine.