Newcastle University’s Law School is hosting The Inspirational BAME Women of the Law event on Wednesday 22nd March, which aims to inspire students of any gender or ethnicity to adopt career in law.
The university will welcome a line-up of seven inspirational female speakers, all of whom have already made a significant contribution to society through their work in the law sector.
One of the key speakers will be Marcia Willis Stewart, who played a fundamental role in seeking justice for the families of victims in the Hillsborough disaster. Chrisann Jarett, a final year law student at London School of Economics, who set up the ‘Let Us Learn’ campaign in order to promote higher education to more adolescents in the UK, will also add some smart insights to a highly informative event.
This event is expected to be met by a wave of success - students will have the chance to listen to the unique speeches of seven minority ethnic women between 1.00p.m. and 6.30 p.m., and see what a huge impact working in the law sector can have upon social justice.
Professor Kathryn Hollingsworth, co-Director of the event and Professor of Law at Newcastle University, shared her hopes for the event with The Courier:
“By hearing about the ground-breaking achievements of these amazing women, we hope this event will encourage young women and men to study law, to practice law and become the next generation of lawyers, law-makers, judges and academics.”
One of the key speaker at this event is an also Newcastle University’s alumni student, Funke Abimbola, who has made inspirational changes within the law sector since graduating twenty years ago.
By utilizing her authority as the most senior black lawyer in her academic field, she has successfully campaigned against discrimination within the workplace and wider society by highlighting socioeconomic, gender and racial obstacles which hinder success for like-minded individuals.
She says:
“Everyone should be given the opportunity to maximise their potential irrespective of background.
We need to empower others if we find ourselves in a position of privilege, embracing and celebrating our differences to work towards building a better society.”
The Inspirational BAME Women of the Law event is organised and managed by Freedom 2017- a universal programme which aims to highlight and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. receiving an nominal degree from Newcastle University.
It also collaborates with the newly emerged Black Law Students Association (BLSA) which aims to assist minority ethnic students as they begin their Law degree. As the first establishment of this kind, members hope that diversity initiatives, such as the Inspirational BAME Women of the Law event, will inspire racial progression within the legal profession.