Fall 1983 – Issue 30 - Stanford Lawyer - Stanford University

Margo D. SmithAssistant Dean, Student AffairsDean Smith, a 1975 graduate of theSchool, began her first official presentationto the Board of Visitors bydescribing her new responsibilities."The Dean for Student Affairs,"she said, "ideally represents thestudents' concerns to the Dean, administration,and faculty." In addition,she makes herself available tocounsel individual students, assistsstudent organizations and, beginningin the fall of 1983, will administerthe externship program.One of Dean Smith's major goals,she said, is to maintain and increasethe number of minority students atStanford Law School. So far thisyear, she reported, 36 of the minorityapplicants offered admission tothe entering class have accepted.This represents a healthy reboundfrom the somewhat disappointingnumber of acceptances (21) at thistime the previous year. Of course, afew students will change their plans(19 of the 21 accepting actually enrolledlast fall), she noted, but "wecan still expect improved representationof minorities in the class enteringthis fall."Dean Smith will be traveling to theMidwest and East during the comingyear to carry the message to prospectivestudents that "California isnot the end of the world."Three "firsts" occurred in the Admissionsarea this year, she reported.The first was the new LSATwhich, to complicate matters, had apercentile ranking scale that wasinitially inaccurate. The scale hassince been corrected, and all shouldgo more smoothly next year.A second "first" was the introductionby the School of a $200tuition deposit, due at the time ofacceptance. This has proven nobarrier to committed students, whilediscouraging interim acceptancesfrom the uncommitted.The third new development DeanSmith described was the offer ofdeferred admission to those applicantswho requested such an arrangement.A number of students,including seven minority students,have taken advantage of this arrangement,many to pursue specialopportunities such as Rhodes andMarshall scholarships or workabroad, which should enhance theirpersonal development and theirinterest as classmates.Student-edited scholarly publications,Dean Smith noted, continue tobe "a source of pride" to the School.Plans for the upcoming volume ofthe Stanford Law Review include asymposium on Critical Legal Studieswith articles by four faculty members.The Stanford Journal of InternationalLaw drew praise for a recentissue on International Antitrust.And the Environmental Law Society,which this year published a revisionof its 1975 handbook on HistoricPreservation in California, has sevenother volumes in preparation.She then touched on the many andvaried student activities at theSchool, including 20 organizations(3 new this year), the Law Forum(which brought former West GermanChancellor Helmut Schmidt tocampus in April), La Raza (Hispanicstudents), and BLSA (blacks).Dean Smith closed with somereflections on student life at theSchool. "Stanford's smallness breedsan intimacy and supportiveness thatis seldom seen," she said. "Despitethe competition for grades and jobsin this age of the soft job market, ourstudents continue to care about thewell-being and success of theirfellow students - and that," sheconcluded, "is very special."_Dean SmithFall 1983 Stanford Lawyer35