Harvard Law Review turns over a new leaf
New York: The prestigious Harvard Law Review has elected its first black woman President in its 130-year history.
ImeIme Umana, 24, the third-oldest of the four daughters of Nigerian immigrants, has been elected by the venerable journal’s 92 student editors as the President of its 131st volume.
The difficult election process required a thorough dissection of her work and application, and a 12-hour long deliberation of her portfolio.
Umana’s election comes 27 years after the Review elected its first black man as President. That was former President Barack Obama.
It has been even longer — 41 years — since the first woman, Susan Estrich, was elected to the position.
Since then, subsequent Presidents have been female, Hispanic, AsianAmerican, openly gay and black, the New York Times reported.
Umana, who grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is a joint degree candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
“I didn’t realise (civics) could be so personal and so alive for a lot of the students,” Umana told the Harvard Crimson, the school’s newspaper. “It taught me sensitivity in teaching but it also taught me, like the public defender’s service, to not assume certain backgrounds, certain reactions, certain lived experiences,” she said.
Her tenure begins next school year.
The Harvard Law Review allows students to hone their legal writing skills and gives scholars a forum.