I’m happy that they’re backtracking. But [U.S. News’] myopia on these critically important issues of diversity explains why the rankings continue to sustain and exacerbate systemic inequities of all kinds. That’s what I think is so important about this. Their antiquated and absurd definition of who underrepresented minorities are—which excludes a person like me as diverse, I’m Black and Korean. Their initial ranking undid decades of progress, in terms of its exclusionary definition of diversity.
— Dean L. Song Richardson of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, commenting on a decision made by U.S. News to remove its new diversity ranking due to two errors: the ranking initially failed to include Asian students (that recalculation was made earlier this week) and multiethnic students. After 162 law school deans requested a further revision to the diversity ranking, Bob Morse of U.S. News said, “[W]e’ve removed the law diversity ranking and will publish it at a later, as yet undetermined date in order to include students of two or more races.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.