Spotlight: Disabled Law Students Association The Disabled Law Students Association is striving to create a community for students with disabilities and a more accessible legal field.
From left to right: DLSA officers Martin Flores, Eva Lane, Maddie Popp, Lilly Weitz, Emma Nargi, and Will Baldwin.With over 30 students groups spanning an array of co-curricular, public service and recreational functions, W&L Law offers each student a way to get engaged and become an important part of our community. Below, members of the Disabled Law Students Association share information about their group.
What is the mission of the organization?
The Disabled Law Students Association (DLSA) is an organization that is striving to create a community for students with disabilities or interest in a more accessible legal field to interact, share experiences, and make friends. We really would love for the organization to grow and include people regardless of disability status and help students, lawyers, and other legal professionals to understand that disability isn’t a dirty word or a bad status.
Do you have any events scheduled for this year?
We hope to have a mixture of community building, advocacy, and educational events. Our first event will be in October for members. We will be painting pumpkins, getting to know each other, and kicking off the new school year. Following that, we hope to team up with some other organizations to expand our reach, and in November we will be having an event to help 1Ls navigate OCI and GPIIP.
Can alumni get involved?
We welcome any alumni that would like to get involved. We would love to hear from alumni with experience in health, employment, or disability law or in the alternative, any alumni with a disability status and how they have navigated the legal field as such. Please reach out to our organization if you are interested: enargi@law.wlu.edu.
Are there mentorship opportunities?
DLSA does not currently have a formal mentorship program set up, but we hope to create a strong community so that there are opportunities to help one another.
How many law students are currently involved? How has the law school community supported students in this organization?
Currently, we have 6 students as part of our executive board and expect to have somewhere around 20-30 students involved. It has been a bit difficult to disseminate information about the club as it was dormant last year even though it was still being advertised by the school. Our main goal is to create a strong organization that will continue after all of us graduate so there will remain a space for students interested in these topics or identities to find one another. The law school community has been incredibly welcoming, and we hope to team up with several other organizations throughout the year. Disability intersects with everything and we hope to show that this year.
Is there anything else to share about the organization?
Disability status is not required to join! We are open to everyone!
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