“Expect Excellence”
Anti-Bias Education and Cross Difference Competency
Gonzaga University School of Law
Gonzaga School of Law’s approach to anti-bias education and cross difference competency
addresses these issues through both course work and co-curricular activities. Gonzaga’s law
professors enjoy broad academic freedom to integrate such issues as race, culture, gender,
disability, and sexual orientation into course work and classroom discussion.
Curriculum: Gonzaga School of Law mandates two courses that include components on cross
difference competency and anti-bias education. First, the textbook for the mandatory 1L
Litigation Skills and Professionalism Lab includes a chapter on Multicultural Lawyering. Several
professors also use Sue Bryant’s and Jean Koh Peter’s “5 Habits for Cross-Cultural Lawyering” in
the Skills Lab and other courses that they teach. Second, Gonzaga law students are required to
participate in either a clinical experience or an externship. All of Gonzaga’s clinical professors
focus on bias and cross difference competency issues as part of their student orientation and
ongoing training. The Clinic orientation includes a "Building Community" session, where
students are introduced to (or reminded of) the idea that we all are cultural beings. Finally, the
Externship Seminar includes a class on bias and ongoing discussions on diversification, access to
justice, etc.
Additional course offerings that raise these issues to varying degrees include:
Civil Rights
Communications Skills Lab
Comparative Women’s Rights
Elder Law
Ethical Issues in Representing Children
Int’l & Comparative IP Law
International Law
Justice and Society
Mental Disability Law
Transactional Skills and Professionalism
Lab
Law and Sexuality
Comparative Civil Liberties
Comparative Women’s Rights
Employment Discrimination Seminar
Immigration Law
International Human Rights
Landlord/Tenant Law
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Skills
Professional Responsibility
Co-curricular activities: Each year Gonzaga School of Law hosts or co-sponsors a plethora of
co-curricular activities to integrate cross difference competency into the lives of its students,
faculty and staff. Annual activities at the law school include:
PO Box 3528
Spokane, WA 99220-3528
509.313.5790
www.law.gonzaga.edu
“Building Bridges” Week: The 2009 program included presentations on diversity in the
courts; Disability and the Law; a keynote by Ruthe Ashley, Chair of ABA Pres. Advisory
Council on Diversity in the Profession; a Ref. 71 debate; an ABA Color of Justice Pipeline
event; “Identification, Development & Validation of Predictors for Successfully Lawyering,”
by Berkley Law Profs. Marjorie M. Shultz and Sheldon Zedeck; “Diversity Matters in WA:
The Current Facts & Future Needs of the Legal Profession” by Prof. Sarah Redfield of
Franklin Pierce Law Center; and “Representing LEP Clients and How to Work with an
Interpreter.”
o The 2010 Building Bridges program included the CLE “Justice for All: The Promise
and Potential of RPC 8.4 (g) and (h)” with WSBA PR Counsel moderating a panel
discussion on the broader ethical framework for confronting discrimination in
courts, government and the private workplace; the CLE “Dollars & Sense of
Diversity” co-sponsored by Initiative for Diversity Governing; a presentation on
how to create an environment that welcomes diversity; and “Color of Justice
Law Day”, where Gonzaga hosted 75-100 high school students at the law school,
many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college.
“Take Action Against Hate” banquet with main campus – 2010 Keynote: Ken Stern of
American Jewish Committee on “Why Hate Matters.”
“Pledge to Take a Stand Against Racism”-SBA Diversity Committee and Multicultural Law
Caucus partnering with GU undergraduate Unity Multicultural Education Center. This year’s
events included panel discussion on how to stand against racism by Dr. Bob Bartlett, Prof &
Dir. for Africana Education at EWU; Dr. Jim Mohr, Dir. Student Diversity Programs,
Community Colleges of Spokane; and GU Law Prof. Jason Gillmer, Civil Liberties Chair,
Taskforce on Race & Criminal Justice member.
Additional 2010-11 Law School Events included:
“Legal Hurdles for Transgendered Individuals”- attorney panel discussion moderated by GU
Law Professor Kim Pearson and co-sponsored by Gonzaga Gay Straight Alliance and ACLU;
“Diverse Perspectives on the Law” – panel of diverse judges and lawyers discussed diversity
from their perspectives and their approach to the law and legal practices;
“Voting Rights Discrimination” -Ryan Haygood, Co-Director of NAACP Legal Defense Fund;
“What Happens when Racial Prejudice Enters Jury Deliberation?”- 2010 WSAJ Trial Lawyer
of the Year Mark Kamitomo and retired Div. III Court of Appeals Chief Judge Ken Kato;
“Expect Excellence”
“A Closer Look at Westboro Baptist Church” -Dr. Rebecca Barrett-Fox, PhD, presenting on
the results of 6 year ethnographic study of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its antigay and anti-patriotic pickets;
Weekly Hispanic Law Caucus Brown Bag Spanish Language Lunch, including various
speakers;
“In the Courts of the Conqueror” – Walter Echo-Hawk, attorney, author and Indian Rights
activist, co-sponsored by Gonzaga School of Law, the Spokane Bar Indian Law Section and
Gonzaga Law Native American Law Students Association;
Screening of “Posada”, an award winning documentary on the journey of unaccompanied,
immigrant children trying to find shelter in US with panel discussion including Fr. Mark
McGregor, SJ, St. Xavier Parish, Montana, Keith Aoiki, UC Davis School of Law Professor,
Steve Bender, JD, Univ. of Oregon School of Law, Prof. Mary Pat Treuthart, GU Law;
“When Gay People Get Married”-Prof. MV Lee Badget, research director at Williams
Institute;
Spokane County Diversity Bar Luncheon, featuring Johnny Lake, expert in cultural diversity,
with 20 law students/faculty/staff attending;
Gonzaga Law School Alliance for Social Justice evening, “Culture of Public Interest
Lawyering”- Eastern WA legal aid providers gathered with law students to discuss “Aspects
of Culture”, “Aspects of Lawyering Culture”, “The Lawyer as Translator” and “The Three
Rings Habit.”
Faculty/Staff Leadership:
Race and Criminal Justice Task Force: Dean George Critchlow, Prof. Jason Gillmer, Prof.
Larry Weiser, Prof. Brooks Holland
ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline: Associate Dean
of Students John Sklut
Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies and the Journal for Hate Studies, Dean Critchlow, founding
member.
PO Box 3528
Spokane, WA 99220-3528
509.313.5790
www.law.gonzaga.edu