Why This Conference Was Created

A Special Audio Message from Conference Founder and Chairperson Evangeline M. Mitchell, Esq. on

why The National Black Pre-Law Conference was created.

Greetings! My name is Evangeline Mitchell. I'm an attorney, author, and entrepreneur based in Houston, Texas - and I'm also the founder and chair of The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair. Our inaugural event was on November 4, 2005. Honestly, this conference was created out of a genuine passion for helping more African Americans get into law school and succeed while there. My expression of this sincere interest didn't start with the conference. It started in law school. While in law school, I realized how much I didn't know about getting into law school (meaning I realized that I didn't really get any true pre-law advisement and had very little exposure to what law school would be like, and had few chances even to meet real lawyers and didn't have any mentors) - and I knew I wasn't alone. I felt that I wanted to do something about it and I decided that I wanted to write a book. So, I started working on a book in law school and continued working on that book project which branched off to other related book projects - The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide, Profiles & Essays of Successful Law School Applicants, The African American Law School Survival Guide, a website called For Future Black Law Students: Information and Support Network, an e-mail mentorship matching program, and the creation of the first national Black pre-law organization - The National Association of Future Black Law Students. I had mentored several students interested in law school in my spare time and really felt that with the books, the website, the organization, and mentoring that I still needed to do more to reach more students from all over the country - and the conference came from that. But again, it's important to know why all this started. As an undergraduate, I knew I wanted to go to law school. We had a pre-law advisor who taught courses for Criminal Justice majors. I took some of the courses he taught and participated in whatever was offered. During that time, I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that my school made available to us. Of course, still I was very limited to what was available on our campus and the few people I knew. My mother didn't know any lawyers. The people I knew didn't know any. And this was pre-Internet, so I couldn't do any major searches. I wrote letters and didn't really get responses. When I met people, they told me to call them and I didn't get return calls. . . .

There were some opportunities such as to attend a law fair or a lawyer came to speak to a class once, but none of these few opportunities provided the necessary information to learn how to become competitive in the law school admissions process, what it really took to do well on the Law School Admissions Test, what the law school experience was like, how to prepare for the challenges of law school, or addressed the importance of networking and mentorship and how to establish these types of relationships, or what the realities of the bar exam - and the issues Black lawyers in particular faced. I just felt that there is so much that I did not know and you know the Bible says "Without knowledge, people perish". I felt that I could have been in a much better position had I had good information, mentoring and the opportunity to network with lawyers who cared about my success. I was so frustrated by the fact that when I asked for advice about law school and choosing a law school I was given a brochure listing the top 25 law schools by my pre-law advisor, I went to a political science professor and was asked what kind of weather I wanted to live in, and two other professors told me to apply to Harvard because I was a top student. Again, I was not told a thing about how to choose a school, or exactly what it would take to get into these schools, and the degree of competitiveness I was against. This event grew out of that - all of my experiences and frustration, and just feeling that this was a "closed" profession and because I didn't come from a college-educated family or a family of lawyers that I was at a distinct disadvantage. I needed to know the truth. That's what this event does, but in the most encouraging way. I'd like to say that it's about tough love in a warm, friendly and family-type environment. This event aims to explain that it's tough out there, but you can do it. It's competitive, but you can do it. There are inequalities out there, but you can do it. You're going to face discrimination, prejudice and additional challenges because you are black and because you are a black male AND because you are a black female - we both have certain sets of issues we confront, but you can do it. It's going to tough to pass the bar and you're going to need to want it badly and have a solid support system, but you can do it. If WE could do it, then YOU can do it. . . .

I had attended a couple of law fairs as a college student before applying to law school, but they didn't teach me how to be the best candidate I could or address issues that African Americans face in the admissions process, in law school, the bar exam, and the legal profession. Most of what I learned was through experience and along the way. That just didn't sit right with me. I could have benefited tremendously from some of this invaluable insight earlier on. So many African Americans are among the firsts in their families to go to college and/or the first to attend law school, so there's so much knowledge that we don't have that places us at a disadvantage. However, this fact does NOT speak to our abilities, our aptitude, our possibilities - but a lot of it is simply what we do not know. . . .

There was nothing like the National Black Pre-Law Conference when I was in college, in law school, or even after, and nothing that addressed the issues that WE faced. I thought that it was about time - period. I had done these different things, but realized that an event would be so much more powerful, and especially the idea of the in-person connections - networking and opportunities for mentorship - with sooo many different lawyers from all over the country - on a truly national level. This was extremely important and something that really wasn't being done and that I alone could not do. This would need to be a collective effort from people all over the nation who shared my concern, my interest, and passion for changing the negative statistics regarding African Americans on the LSAT, getting into law school, performing well in law school and making the most of the experience, passing the bar, and beyoud. I believed that the invaluable information and the opportunity to network and connect with law schools all in one event was also critical. I also knew that if I asked "permission" from other organizations and people that there would be delays and potentially a lack of support. I had an urgency, and with the support of a fellow law grad, Lewis Hutchison, then the Director of Admissions at the University of Florida who is now a dean at Campbell University, and the support of husband, my fellow Iowa alum Attorney Angela L. Dixon, Charles Holmes, Esquire . Professor and Pre-Law Advisor at Tougaloo College, the University of Southern Mississippi's Future Black Lawyers Association and then President Andrew West, members of the National Association of Future Black Law Students, and others, we made it happen. . . . .

It was simply an idea, but an idea acted upon and this conference came from that. Thankfully, this idea came AFTER the 2003 Supreme Court Grutter vs. Bollinger decision which found that diversity is a compelling state interest and that race could be one factor considered by admissions committees in law school admissions decisions. Grutter was important because if the decision turned out differently many law schools may have felt that they could not attend and support an event that was targeting a specific racial and/or cultural group.

However, we are now planning for our fifth anniversary event and plan to be around for a very long time. I know in planning our first event, I received an angry e-mail, supposedly from a White student who didn't understand why we would have a "Black" pre-law conference. I explained to him that it was an event that provided the same information you would receive from any pre-law conference, but in addition, it addressed issues specifically affecting African Americans. I invited him to come, and to invite his friends, and explained that we did not discriminate in terms of who attended, but there were specific issues that affect Black people that don't apply to everyone equally that were being discussed and that any attendee could learn something from this event. So, I want everyone to know that this event is OPEN to absolutely any and every one who chooses to attend. As an African American, I know that many of us don't have the opportunity to meet Black lawyers, or to learn about the different experiences of African Americans in law school, with the bar exam, and inside and outside the legal profession after having received professional legal training. This event provides this awesome and rare opportunity. My hope is that more future lawyers will attend, help spread the word, and continue to support this important event. It is one effort that will make a difference in increasing the number of Black lawyers in our country.

AUDIO - Click Here to Listen (15 minutes in length)