Task Force for Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Southwestern Diversity Through the Ages

The Dean's Task Force for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging was founded in 2020 to create a more inclusive and supportive law school environment for all. Aligned with the law school’s core values of equity, inclusion, and belonging, our goal is to foster an environment where every individual feels seen, heard, and valued.

While we understand and deeply respect the desire of some community members to have us voice strong positions on various local, national, global, and social issues, we also recognize the complexities and nuances inherent in many of these situations. To that end, our Task Force is primarily focused on promoting understanding, compassion, and unity in our campus community. 

The Task Force’s efforts are focused on community programming, proactive messaging related to our core values that uplift and celebrate our diverse community, and other initiatives related to equity, inclusion, and belonging.

We aim to empower students, staff, and faculty to use their voices to uplift their communities, and we encourage them to create programming that continues to uplift and educate our Southwestern community.  Through these resources and support, we hope to contribute to a more inclusive and harmonious environment where compassion and understanding are uplifted and where civil discourse and mutual respect are at the heart of our collective progress.  Discrimination and harassment of any group have no place on our campus. 

To contact the Task Force, email eibtaskforce@swlaw.edu.

The task force includes a group of faculty, administrators, and students. The 2023-2024 task force members are as follows: 

Committee Co-Chairs:

  • Professor Isabelle Gunning
  • Associate Dean Nydia Johnson
  • Associate Dean Robert Mena

Faculty Members:

  • Luke Boso
  • Chris Cameron
  • Byron Stier
  • Della Thompson-Bell
  • Julia Vázquez
  • Bryce Woolley

Staff Members:

  • Steven Lopez
  • Angel Morales
  • Louis Rosen
  • Guadalupe Sapon

Student Members:

  • Caleb Mack
  • Carie Martin

Ex Officio:

  • Darby Dickerson