Minnesota Law adds diversity dean

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The University of Minnesota Law School has announced the appointment of Ra’Shya Ghee as its inaugural assistant dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ghee will join Minnesota Law in this capacity in mid-August.

This new role is something that many institutions have implemented, including Wisconsin Law and the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, in a quest to put DEI issues front and center. Ghee was selected after a national search by a committee full of diverse stakeholders including faculty, students and staff.

“I’m hoping to advance the laws school’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and empower students by collaborating with other stakeholders in the law school community and offering a space dedicated to cultivating their authentic selves as legal actors with equity competence,” Ghee wrote in an email.

Ghee will lead Minnesota Law’s journey in its efforts to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging into all aspects of the school. The role will aid in directing strategic initiatives related to DEI, lead educational programming and training to advance the law school’s goals, and foster dialogue across diverse identities, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

“The idea is to have someone who will help ensure that we are thinking about DEI, holistically, and someone who makes this matter,” Dean Garry Jenkins said in an interview. “The idea of diversity, equity, and inclusion is something that we ask everyone to think about. But having this position means that this gets focused attention.

“The assistant dean will make sure that we are creating a culture that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. The role with be responsible for our compliance, for our education, as well as advocacy, on behalf of students. We are looking for someone to be a resource for the leadership team, for faculty, for students, with respect to issues of DEI and will promote collaboration and dialogue around that set of issues.”

Ghee is familiar with the culture at Minnesota Law. Ghee attended law school at Minnesota, graduating in 2013. While a student, Ghee served as president of the Black Law Student Association. Since 2017, Ghee has served as an adjunct professor at Minnesota. In spring 2021, Ghee taught Race & American Law. In addition to her legal background, Ghee has served as a DEI consultant. In that role, Ghee provided cross-racial coaching, helped organizations center racial equity and operationalize anti-racist frameworks, and provided media commentary on racial tensions.

“Both my work as an equity consultant and as an educator represent two components of equity work where I believe the ground is fertile for real progress,” Ghee wrote in her email. “This position was at the intersection of both those opportunities and for as long as I have been affiliated with the University of Minnesota, it has been invested in progress on issues of equity. There was a harmonious alignment between this institution, my experience, and this role.”

Jenkins said, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion is critically important to our mission. To be a great institution, you have to be a diverse institution. We think this is an important step in our journey to enhancing the quality of the culture and environment at the law school. One way to ensure that we continue to transform into an institution where all faculty, students, staff, feel protected and that they are given an equal chance, are treated with dignity and respect, necessitated us to undergo the process in which we examined the successes that we have had and where we can continue to do more work. We thought that creating this position would be the next stage in our journey.”

Jenkins avowed that, while this role is crucial, it is a part of a larger DEI initiative that the law school has undertaken over the last few years. Jenkins said the number of students of color has increased by more than 90% in the past three to four years, thanks to various DEI initiatives that the law school has recently undertaken. This has helped propel Minnesota from the least diverse law school in the state to the most diverse law school in the state. And Jenkins is optimistic that this new role—particularly with Ghee occupying it—will only benefit the law school.

“Each of us needs something to show up as our whole authentic selves,” Ghee wrote. “That version of ourselves is best positioned to meaningfully contribute to the spaces we occupy. This role as the assistant dean of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is about empowering everyone in the law school community to show up as their authentic self and strive for the version of themselves that allows them to maximize their potential for good as legal actors.”