Letter From the Editor-in-chief Leadership:

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

This past summer, the editors-in-chief of our journals at Georgetown Law

wrote to our incoming members that 2020 was a “year of ref‌lection and radi-

cal change.” Our nation’s conscience was f‌inally shaken by the tragic death

of George Floyd, and a wave of civic activism brought awareness to the long-

standing issues of injustice in policing and our penal system. Since that time,

the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in

public health and our economy. We also experienced an election that rocked

our democracy and the rule of law to its very core. A common thread in these

2020 episodes was the clearer vision they provided of the issues emanating

from our country’s oldest social wound: systematic racism.

In our roles as editors-in-chief, we have sought to ref‌lect on these global events

and our capacity to cultivate a more inclusive community within our own institu-

tion. We have had honest conversations about the historic lack of representation

of students of color within our publications’ membership and the journal com-

munity’s role in perpetuating inequality. We have listened to our student commu-

nity regarding the impact of the 2020 summer protests and the ongoing

pandemic. We have discussed harmful pedagogical practices, such as Emeritus

Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow’s use of the N-word in the classroom at the

law school where she now teaches and her refusal to apologize for the deep and

inevitable harm her actions caused. Through these conversations and collabora-

tion amongst our journals, we have made commitments to promoting diversity

and inclusion and reducing racial bias within the journal community.

Our class of editors-in-chief is historically diverse. In this historic year for

our country and community, we have a responsibility to lead by example on

diversity and inclusion. The journal community must take action—which

means having hard discussions, righting past wrongs, and, most importantly,

“making good by doing good.” Accordingly, we have made a collective

effort to address the issues of the past in order to advance equity in the future.

To quote James Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but

nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

Below we have outlined our goals for diversity and inclusion among

Georgetown journals, along with the steps we have taken this year and those

that will be critical in moving forward.

Leadership: Increase diverse representation in Journal Leadership and

Executive Boards.

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