Community, justice, and celebration were themes this year, as Stanford Law School’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA) marked its 50th anniversary with a brunch and the seventh Annual Black History Month Gala on February 1, 2020.

Current BLSA members were joined by alumni from every decade going back to the group’s founding in 1970 for the campus gatherings.

“This celebration is an opportunity to connect with the alums who made all of this possible,” said BLSA co-president Ari Andrews, JD ’21, at the brunch. With more than 50 alumni and their guests in attendance, BLSA co-president Lisa Muloma, JD ’21, highlighted the importance of celebration as she introduced the event’s honorees, three of Stanford Law School’s first black graduates: Sallyanne Payton, JD ’68, Leroy Bobbitt, JD ’69, and Vaughn Williams, JD ’69.

“Back then in the 1960s, this meme of why black people and women can’t possibly be as smart as white guys kind of got exploded. It was all over in the next few years,” Payton explained when asked about the impact of being Stanford Law School’s first black graduate. She also had words of caution. “Don’t think that when you go to apply for something or you get up to speak about something that some of the people in that audience are trying to figure out whether it could possibly be that you’re smart enough to be doing what you’re doing.”

Read Sallyanne Payton: A Groundbreaking Legal Career in Stanford Lawyer Magazine

Jenny Martinez, Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean, highlighted the strides SLS has made: When Stanford BLSA was founded in 1970, only 2 percent of students at Stanford Law were black. However, in this year’s first-year class, more than 17 percent of students identified as black or multiracial, and more than 42 percent of students identified as a person of color. She also noted that in 1972, William B. Gould became Stanford’s first black faculty member.

“It was not until 1986 that a second black faculty member joined the faculty,” said Martinez. “Today we have six black faculty members. While these numbers are something to celebrate, we have not made nearly enough progress. It’s only by talking about these things that we will continue to move the law school forward.”

That evening, the gala was attended by nearly 400 BLSA members and alumni, all gathered to celebrate black history and reflect on BLSA’s role in their lives. The goals for the group remain much as they were when first outlined in a short essay for the 1970 SLS yearbook: “to ensure that black law students are admitted to Stanford Law School, are given all possible assistance in achieving academic excellence, and, most importantly, use their education for the benefit of the black community.” Speakers at the gala highlighted the continuation of that work with the group’s many activities from hosting discussion forums on campus to community service events throughout the Bay Area. And they announced the new BLSA Award, a stipend for SLS students doing summer public interest work to further black rights, racial justice, or civil rights.

The keynote speaker, Paul Butler, professor of law at Georgetown University, discussed racial justice and his book Chokehold: Policing Black Men. And a video premiered highlighting the important role BLSA has played at Stanford Law School and the sense of community it has created for black law students.

“As we take a look back at our history today and we celebrate and honor the firsts, we also look forward to a day when there won’t need to be so many firsts,” said Muloma. “While we still have a way to go, we cherish the chance to come together to celebrate what black students have done here and what black people within and without Stanford Law School have achieved.” SL