The diversity debate in law schools, as in other parts of academia, is impoverished. We have moved only slightly from the late 1980s, when diversity was a code word representing only race or gender differences. Talk to any law school administrator today, any you will likely hear about "life experiences," a term that covers not only race and gender, but also economic class. For some reason, the "bright student from Appalachia" is reverenced and coveted by people who place a high priority on diversity, though I am still waiting to meet that student. I am imagining an Elly May Clampett, not Jethro Bodine, but neither of them seems to have enrolled at Wisconsin.

Nevertheless, in the most recent issue of the National Jurist, the University of Wisconsin Law School was selected as one of five "where diversity works." The survey measures only race and gender. Second-year UW law student Tanja Smith is quoted: “Knowing that there is support for women and students of color makes it possible for my primary focus to be on law school every single day. Other peripheral issues are minimized.” I am happy to be working at a place where minority students and women have such an experience.

As my recent experience with politics in the classroom (see here and here) illustrates, however, an emphasis on observable diversity does not necessarily produce a classroom in which diverse viewpoints are welcome. The so-called "conservative" approach would focus on viewpoint diversity. In most instances, however, the challenges of implementing such a policy are ignored, probably because they are insurmountable. How, exactly, do we evaluate people for viewpoint diversity? Perhaps the World's Smallest Political Quiz?

The impoverishment of diversity talk resides in statements like this from the National Jurist article referenced above: "Unfortunately, the commitment to gender and ethnic diversity is still relatively new at most schools. It wasn’t that long ago that women students at Harvard Law were allowed to speak only on 'Ladies Day.'" For the record, "Ladies Day" was a fixture in the classroom of one professor (W. Barton Leach) at Harvard Law School in the 1960s! It is an embarrassing reflection on the times, to be sure, but the fact is that among law students, issues of gender diversity have largely been eradicated over the past two decades. Women now comprise about half of all law students, from the top schools on down. In addition, women have gone far beyond tokenism in the academy, on the bench, and in the bar. While no one would argue that complete parity has been achieved, the issue is on life support and will die of natural causes within another generation.

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