University's law school among top in diversity
A Princeton survey ranks it in the top 10 in two categories
Faculty diversity helped persuade Joshua Walsh to choose the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.
"If you want to be an attorney in the 21st century, you need a broad view of the world," said Walsh, a second-year law student at UH.
Walsh, who is half Micronesian, said he wanted a school environment as similar to his native Guam as possible. He completed his undergraduate work at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and he said he felt as though he did not quite fit in. He said the environment at UH's law school is as comfortable as a law school can be.
"I'm exceedingly satisfied with the school. I don't regret not being at Georgetown at all," Walsh said.
So it was no surprise to him that UH ranked among the top 10 law schools in the country in the diversity of its faculty and environment for minority students in the 2007 edition of the Princeton Review's Best 170 Law Schools.
UH had the second-best environment for minority students and the sixth-most diverse faculty, according to the rankings. Howard University School of Law topped both lists.
The other law schools ahead of UH in the diversity of its faculty ranking are Florida International University, Southern University, City University of New York and the University of the District of Columbia.
The Princeton Review said its rankings are based on surveys of more than 17,000 students at 170 law schools and school statistics provided by school administrators. The rankings list the top 10 schools in 11 categories. There is no ranking for the overall quality of the law schools.
In the 2006 rankings, UH came in second for environment for minority students and fifth for the diversity of its faculty among 159 law schools.
The Princeton Review Foundation is a nonprofit organization involved in test preparation for college and graduate school entrance exams and outreach. The foundation also publishes annual rankings for best colleges and best business schools.