Celebrating Tulane
Black Law Alumni Achievement
Our Roots are Strong
The year 1968 was a turning point in American history. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, the Tet Offensive, and the first manned orbit of the moon rocked the status quo and motivated new generations to rewrite the future. That same year transformed Tulane Law School, which graduated its first African American student, Michael Starks, that May. A native New Orleanian, Starks went on to other firsts, including serving as the first African American lawyer in the City Attorney’s office of his hometown. In the years since, Tulane Law School has graduated more than 1,000 African American students and more than 1,800 students of color. What began with one remarkable man now makes up roughly a fifth of all Tulane Law graduates since Starks’ graduation. Many of these graduates, like him, have gone on to careers of great distinction and impact—as leaders of law firms, judges, academics, public servants, and entrepreneurs—and have transformed communities across the nation. In recognition of this historic milestone for Tulane Law, the inaugural Black Law Alumni Reunion: 50 Years of Achievement, took place Feb. 7-10, 2019.
Dean Meyer: Let's work together to shape the next 50 years
Dear Friends,
Thank you for opening the first installment of a newsletter for Tulane Law’s black alumni. This project is born out of our inaugural Black Alumni Reunion Weekend, which was held from Feb. 7-10 in New Orleans. It was an unforgettable and moving weekend that brought together more than 350 alumni and guests to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our first African American graduate, Michael Starks, and 50 years of black alumni achievement. Thank you so much to all of you who joined us for the weekend, and who were involved in making it a success.
Black Law Alumni
Spotlight
First black woman law grad: "The law has been good to me"
In the fall of 1967, Janice Martin Foster walked into Tulane Law School as one of only four women starting courses that year.
“It took me a little while, but I didn’t realize that I was the only black woman until I got to class and no one looked like me,” she recalled.
Foster became the law school’s first black woman graduate in 1970, two years after Michael Starks became the first black student to earn his Juris Doctor. Foster was only the second black law graduate.
