IN THIS ISSUE

ALUMNI ACTION

STUDENTS IN THE NEWS

FACULTY & RESEARCH

ACADEMIC EVENTS

From the Dean's Desk

The first half of 2007 has been extremely productive and eventful for Vanderbilt Law School and for me. This In Brief issue offers a glimpse of a few of the distinguished lectures, conferences, competitions and accomplishments of our faculty, students and alumni at the law school this spring.

Vanderbilt Law School celebrates
50th anniversary of racial integration

Fifty years ago, two men took a bold step for themselves and for the future of Vanderbilt University Law School. Shortly after the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and after strong encouragement from then Dean John Wade and the law faculty, Vanderbilt Law School became the first privately funded law school in the South to admit African American students. This March, the first two black students, Frederick Taylor Work and Edward Melvin Porter, Sr., spoke to Vanderbilt law students and then were honorees at a dinner featuring keynote speaker James Lawson, Distinguished University Professor, on March 30.

VULS graduates accept clerkships in federal and state courts

Twenty-seven members of the Class of 2007 and five alumni have accepted judicial clerkships in federal and state courts throughout the United States.