The start of one of the newest law school student groups, Stanford Association of Law Students for Disability Rights (SALSDR), came about somewhat circuitously. In 2009 Michael Nuñez ’11 (BA ’06) and Anna Scholin ’11 attended the annual conference of the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities (NALSWD) and became members of its national executive board. But there was no NALSWD presence at Stanford Law, so Nuñez and Scholin formed a local chapter to create a community of the type they experienced at the conference. The group launched in the 2009/2010 school year with about 20 students signed on as members.

The first year was a busy one. Caroline Jackson ’11 (MA ’12), one of the group’s founding members, organized a disability rights panel for the Shaking the Foundations conference on progressive lawyering. SALSDR held a screening of Finding Nemo, an animated movie with a huge cast of characters with disabilities and some great, if stealthy, positive themes about acceptance and independence. The organization also successfully campaigned for the inclusion of students with disabilities in the special programming for minority students at Stanford’s admitted students weekend. This year, there are plans to continue collaborating with student groups to promote shared interests and awareness about disability rights and the law. The group also plans to partner with the Youth and Education Advocates at Stanford and the Black Law Students Association to co-host events around special education, school discipline, and juvenile justice.