The Georgetown Law Journal’s commitment to diversity is firmly rooted in Georgetown University’s mission statement, which begins:

Established in 1789 and in the spirit of the new republic, the university was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding. We embody this principle in the diversity of our students, faculty and staff, our commitment to justice and the common good, our intellectual openness, and our international character.

The Georgetown Law Journal recognizes the historical inequalities that pervade the legal profession and the legal academy, and the role that institutions exercising influence over legal discourse have played in propagating and perpetuating those inequalities. In addition to celebrating the importance of diversity to the publication of the nation’s highest caliber of legal scholarship, the Journal also tasks itself with actively seeking ways to use its position of prestige and influence to challenge the unequal status quo in the ultimate interest of justice and equality for all under our laws.

To that end, the Journal’s diversity initiatives revolve around two related elements: diversity of membership and diversity of scholarship. It is theJournal’s belief that by building a membership of students from diverse backgrounds, the Journal will provide a forum for the robust exchange of ideas that will substantially benefit not only the scholarship of the Journal, but also the development of its members. That said, diversity means more than just divergent backgrounds: the Journal’s commitment to diverse membership is a commitment to undermining the hierarchies of power replicated in powerful institutions along racial, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and gender lines. The Journal has not been immune to the homogenizing forces of inequality that have resulted in the continued domination of the legal profession by White men of privilege. For all these reasons, ensuring diversity in the Journal’s membership is a paramount and urgent goal of the Journal’s outreach and member selection processes.

As Georgetown’s only generalist law journal, the Journal is dedicated to publishing prescient scholarship from across the legal spectrum. This diversity of scholarship provides Journal members the opportunity to delve into new and exciting areas of study that both complement and augment their academic coursework. The resulting publication features articles and notes that span the legal gamut and reflect the diversity of the Journal’s membership and promote diverse perspectives throughout the larger legal community. The Georgetown Law Journal therefore encourages submissions of articles and notes that present diverse perspectives heretofore-underrepresented in legal scholarship.

Prospective members may optionally submit a personal diversity statement during the Write On process.