I usually write this letter sitting at the desk in my office at the law school, the sounds of students, staff, and faculty going about a busy day filtering through the windows. Now, I write balancing my laptop on my knees as I sit on a couch in my home, in the midst of our 10th week sheltering in place due to the coronavirus. Campus is largely empty. Our students and faculty are finishing up a spring quarter that has been entirely online, we are preparing for a virtual ceremony for our graduating students, and we are gearing up for a summer filled with planning for a reconceived new student orientation and autumn quarter. Meanwhile, the nation is being shaken by a renewed conversation about racism in our legal system and society following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others.

Earlier this year our way of life here at SLS came to an abrupt halt and we pivoted to a new normal within a matter of days. Beginning in March, as our students were finishing up winter quarter exams and leaving for spring break, we instituted a series of changes to our curriculum and teaching methods to allow for a virtual spring quarter for all of our students. Our amazing faculty and staff took on this challenge and became experts overnight in all things Zoom. We held our collective breath as the first few days of spring quarter went online and were instantly gratified by how well our students fell into the reality of online classes and virtual programming at the law school. Many students did so in extraordinarily challenging circumstances, for themselves and their families. This spring has been one unlike any in history, for the law school, university, country, and world. But while the way we all work, teach, and learn has changed for now, this new landscape is also fertile with opportunities to contribute across all aspects of legal practice and education.

As you will read in these pages, lawyers across the country, including some of our faculty and with them our students, have been hard at work meeting head-on the challenges that COVID-19 has suddenly presented. Professor Dan Ho’s RegLab has been helping the city of Detroit triage public health interventions, and the law school’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance has put together a new digital resource compiling almost 8,000 memoranda addressing legal issues arising from the pandemic. You will also read about the Open COVID Pledge for intellectual property established by Professor Mark Lemley and about Professor Nate Persily’s work focused on ensuring that the pandemic does not jeopardize the election in November. (And health law experts including professors Michelle Mello, David Studdert, Hank Greely, and Daniel Kessler have been going nonstop during this crisis and we will discuss their work in a future issue.)

Finally, many members of our faculty are addressing pressing racial and social justice issues in real time. And much of the content in this issue touches on these critically important topics. The magazine’s cover story highlights the long-running struggle to ensure democracy and two important milestones: 150 years since Congress passed the 15th Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race and 100 years since ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women that same right. Its focus, looking at the historic challenges to fulfilling voting rights, is as timely as ever. We also examine our own history with Q&As with the first African-American and the first woman faculty appointments—Bill Gould, who is still active as an emeritus faculty member, and Barbara Babcock, who sadly passed away soon after the magazine interview—as well as reflections on the importance of BLSA and SLLSA, student groups established on campus 50 years ago.

But there is much in the magazine that will engage you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.