Dear Prospective Student,

Welcome and thank you for considering us in your difficult decision in choosing a law school! The Queer Law Alliance of Suffolk University Law School strongly encourages you to consider joining our law school community. As a student run group, our goal is to provide a forum for students to address their needs and concerns regarding GLBT issues. We do this through sponsoring events dealing with timely legal issues facing GLBT people and by holding social events to foster a sense of community among Suffolk’s own GLBT population.

Professional Networking Events

The QLA strives to work with other law student organizations and other GLBT organizations at our neighboring schools, helping to build a sense of community among the GLBT law student population of Boston. Additionally, we partner with established legal organizations where students get many important networking opportunities. One of our biggest partners is the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association (MLGBA) which runs networking events all year long with GLBT lawyers and law students from around the state and also offers a mentoring program, which is a great way to gain a contact in the field of your interest.

Academic Events

In addition to networking, we also sponsor a variety of academic and activist events and are always open to new suggestions from our members. In 2009 we are planning an academic conference on queer theory, which will feature distinguished jurists from around the world. In the past, some of our accomplishments included successfully lobbying the Suffolk Law School Faculty (as an organization of teachers) to join the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR). FAIR was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case challenging the Solomon Amendment, a law forcing schools to allow military recruiters on campus, in spite of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, or face losing all federal funding. We also sponsored an event, and coordinated with the city’s five other law schools, which addressed the unique issues GLBT students face when applying for jobs. Our most recent event included a panel discussion of GLBT attorneys who addressed issues with being “out” in the workplace. And for the past two years, we have sent students to the Lavender Law conference, a conference geared specifically towards GLBT lawyers and law students.

Social Events

We realize that many of our members join for the sole purpose of connecting with other members of the GLBT community. In our huge effort to support this, the QLA holds a number of social events. We typically hold an initial gathering in the fall to welcome both first-year and returning students. Throughout the year we plan a variety of events in the hopes of providing a fun retreat from intensive studying which include everything from happy hour events to movie nights to murder mystery dinner theater.

The Boston GLBT Community

For those students coming to Boston, know that gay life is different here. As the first (and so far only) state to allow gay marriage, Massachusetts is a welcoming community where people are free to live as they choose. Aside from the legal welcome we are afforded, Boston offers a number of GLBT organizations where students can branch out from the law school environment and become established in their own, individualized way. There is a large GLBT sports group, called Pride Sports Boston (www.pridesportsboston.com), which offers soccer, football, rowing, sailing, bowling, and even darts, among others. For the artistic community, Boston has an internationally renowned scene which you can participate in, such as the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus (www.bgmc.org). If you’d prefer to enjoy others’ talents, Boston has endless opportunities at the Museum of Fine Arts (www.mfa.org), the Institute of Contemporary Art (www.icaboston.org), the Boston Symphony Orchestra (www.bso.org), the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Ballet, and the dozens of live performances in Boston’s Theater District, just to name a few. Suffolk’s ideal location puts all of these amenities within minutes of school.

Again, thank you for considering Suffolk Law! If you have any questions or would like to speak with our executive board please feel free to contact us anytime.

Sincerely,

Matthew Gavin, President (Gav11657@suffolk.edu)

Elisa Filman, Vice President (eafilman@suffolk.edu)