Leadership Trifecta: All Three Student Journals to Be Led by Women
First, Tara Levens, ’16, was named the new editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. Then, Ruby Garrett, ’16, was named the new editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Legal Forum.
As they waited for the Chicago Journal of International Law to announce its 2015-16 board, Garrett began to feel an extra tinge of excitement: if that publication also named a female editor-in-chief, it would mark the first time in the Law School’s history that all three student-edited journals were led by women at the same time. “I thought, ‘What if it is all women?’ I kept refreshing my email, waiting to hear,” Garrett said.
The next day, Elise Meyer, ’16, was named to the top spot at CJIL, and the trifecta was complete.
“It’s a huge asset to the Law School as a whole, and it’s also a testament to the strength of our class,” Levens said. “There are so many talented people in our class, and so many talented women in particular. If anything, the signal that this sends is that there aren’t barriers to what you can do at the Law School — people aren’t deterred from taking on these large leadership roles.”
It also sends an important message to prospective and admitted students, the women said. “It’s great for admits who are wondering what it’s like to be a female at this institution,” Garrett said.
All three journals have had female editors-in-chief, just never at the same time. For the past year, the Legal Forum has been led by Viviana Aldous, ’15, and CJIL has been led by Lindsay Short, ’15. The Law Review was last led by a woman in 2007-08, when Helen L. Gilbert, ’08, was editor-in-chief.
Although Meyer, Levens, and Garrett were thrilled by the milestone, they were equally as glad that it wasn’t the first thing everyone noticed.
“There’s a great understanding throughout the Law School community about what it takes to get to these positions,” Levens said. “There was just an outpouring of support and encouragement and well wishes — it was overwhelming.”
Added Garrett: “The female angle was an afterthought.”
Meyer, who has also worked on the International Human Rights Clinic and served as faculty liaison for the Law Women’s Caucus, is looking forward to the challenge of running a journal.
“I’m really excited to build up the community around CJIL,” said Meyer, who will be working this summer at the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights in Washington, DC. “In law school, you’re so often one step away from a person — emailing or calling them but not always talking. I want more face-to-face interaction, so we know who everybody is and we can provide support in that way. I think that will help our end product.”
Garrett — the outgoing president of the Black Law Students Association, a member of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Clinic, and a member of the University’s Diversity Advisory Council — is particularly looking forward to the journal’s annual symposium next fall, which will focus on “policing the police” and approach the timely issue from several angles. Garrett — who will be splitting her time this summer between Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, both in New York — said she is “truly excited” to partner with the Law School's criminal justice faculty members to continue the Legal Forum's history of meaningful contributions to legal scholarship. "The time is right,” she said. “Scholars, practitioners, students, and community members from all points along the spectrum are ready to have those difficult conversations and candid dialogue."
Levens — who has served as the secretary of the Law Students Association and the professional development chair of the Law Women’s Caucus and will work this summer at WilmerHale in Washington, DC — hopes to continue and build on The Law Review’s strong legacy.
“There are so many very, very successful people who have been in this position before me, and they continue to keep tabs on what the Law Review is doing,” she said. “I want to make them proud and make sure that what I and my board put together is something that lives up to that standard.”