Dr. Artika Tyner addressing conference participants
Every year, the National Black Pre-Law Admissions & Preparations Conference provides aspiring Black lawyers with access to resources and information to help prepare them for success in law school and a career as a lawyer. This year, the Conference was held in Houston, TX on November 2-3, and UST Law Director of Diversity Dr. Artika Tyner had the honor of presenting a lecture titled “Writing as Advocacy: Using your Legal Skills to Create Transformation.”
Dr. Tyner used real-world scenarios to engage the conference participants in learning how to write in order to facilitate public policy reform. Specifically, her presentation focused on the “School to Prison Pipeline,” and trends in the criminal charge of “Obstructing Legal Process.”
The participants drafted mock advocacy letters to their State Department of Education and City Attorneys analyzing the two issues and urging policy reform. Dr. Tyner drew upon her own experiences in advocating for civil rights and policy reform in this creative problem solving exercise by instructing her students on preparation for drafting written advocacy and factors to consider when drafting advocacy letters. We are very proud to have had Dr. Tyner represent the University of St. Thomas at the Conference and would like to thank her for leading such a beneficial workshop!
