Our 27th Annual Paul Robeson Gala will be held virtually via Zoom on February 11, 2021 at 6pm EST.  Join us for a unique event to commemorate a unique year and celebrate our perseverance in the face of so many challenges. 

Alumni Please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/columbia-blsas-27th-annual-paul-robeson-gala-tickets-133149217895 to RSVP for the 27th Annual Paul Robeson Gala by January 31. 

Students can rsvp here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSey8TcMn-iVmxgp3ZxJPCclnym6cq_jJWntdkl1za4a0h6grQ/viewform?gxids=7628

Grab your mentors and mentee and come out to the first mentorship event of the year. This is a great opportunity to get together as a group and commune virtually with other mentorship pairings. Rsvp in advance at the link provided.

This event will be an opportunity for our community to unpack the emotional events of the summer that were triggered by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (amongst others) and learn how meditation can serve as a type of self care as we navigate the aftermath.

Attention all incoming 1Ls, transfer students, and LLMs! Please mark your calendars for the meeting we know you’ve been waiting for: The BLSA Intro Meeting! This Wednesday 9/9 at 4:30 pm ET, meet us on Zoom us to learn about BLSA’s structure from our Board Members and Committee Chairs, how to join BLSA officially, and how to get involved with our programs and initiatives for this year!

This virtual lunch talk with Judge Carlton Reeves of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi will explore the origins and operations of the doctrine of Qualified Immunity as detailed in Judge Reeves' recent opinion in Jamison v. McClendon.

In conversation with ACS chapter co-President Damonta Morgan, and CLS Lecturer-in-Law Alexis Hoag, Judge Reeves will expand upon his call to have the Supreme Court abandon the controversial doctrine as well as think through non-judicial fixes for the doctrine.

There is no denying the importance of this year’s election. Minority voters are more vulnerable to discriminatory voting policies and misinformation campaigns further discourage them. The Election Protection Initiative was started by Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (directed by CLS alumna Kristen Clarke) to ensure all voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have their vote count. Volunteers help staff the Election Protection hotline and provide callers with information and assistance with registration, absentee voting, early voting, and more. In the months leading up the 2016 election, the hotline received over 77,000 calls.

Election Protection has offered to host a brief webinar for BLSA to give us an introduction to the program and explain the different volunteer opportunities this Thursday 8/27 at 5:00pm ET.