38 | JUNE 30 • 2022
M
ost histories of law
schools focus on
the notable deans
and professors, and the chang-
es in curricula over time. In
Detroit’s Wayne State University
Law School: Future Leaders in
the Legal Community, Alan
Schenk, a WSU law profes-
sor, highlights the
students and their
influence on the
school’s develop-
ment, character and
employment oppor-
tunities.
Detroit’s Wayne
State University
Law School begins
by placing the
school in historical
context. Public law
schools in major American
cities were rare in the 1920s.
WSU Law School started as a
night-only school on the brink
of the Great Depression. It was
administered by the Detroit
Board of Education’s Colleges
of the City of Detroit and was
minimally funded out of stu-
dent tuition and fees.
From its opening days, the
school admitted students who
had the required college credits,
without regard to their gender,
race or ethnic backgrounds,
when many law schools
restricted or denied admission
to women, people of color
and Jewish applicants. The
school maintained its steadfast
commitment to a racially and
gender-diverse student body,
though it endured significant
challenges along the way.
Denied employment at selec-
tive law firms and relegated to
providing basic legal services,
WSU law students pressed the
school to expand the curric-
ulum and establish programs
that provided them with the
credentials afforded graduates
from elite law schools. It took
the persistence of
the students and
a persuasive dean
to change the con-
versation about
the quality of the
graduates and for
law firms repre-
senting the largest
corporations and
wealthiest individ-
uals to start hiring
WSU graduates
who now heavily populate
those firms.
In the 21st century, the
school gained strength in
international legal studies and
established two law centers that
reflect the institution’s long-
standing commitment to public
interest and civil rights.
While much of the material
was gathered from university
archives, valuable information
was derived from the author’s
recorded interviews with alum-
ni, deans and professors. This
book will strike the hearts of
WSU law school students and
alumni, as well as those inter-
ested in urban legal education
and history.
The book is available at www.
wsupress.wayne.edu, $39.99. Look for
a review in an upcoming issue.
New book looks at how the law school
has evolved since its inception.
History of Wayne
State’s Law School
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