Fair housing, anti-discrimination scholar becomes Tulane Law Vice Dean for Academic Affairs

Professor Stacy Seicshnaydre (L’92) a leading authority on fair housing and anti-discrimination law whose work has influenced federal civil rights litigation, will become the next Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at Tulane Law School, Interim Dean Sally Richardson announced.

Richardson appointed Seicshnaydre to the position left vacant when she accepted the Deanship of the law school earlier this month.

Seicshnaydre is the William K. Christovich Professor of Law and the Robert A. Ainsworth Professor in the Courts and the Federal System whose research and writing on housing law and policy, particularly in the area of disparate impact theory, has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and more recently by the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit. She is routinely among the scholars whose research is noted by those seeking policy change.

She has served in administrative roles before, most notably as the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning from 2016 to 2021, a role that for the first time brought integrated leadership to the full range of experiential learning offerings, which span the legal clinics, field training, externships, trial advocacy, and Moot Court programs, Intersession boot camps, simulations, and other innovative curricula, as well as the law school’s first-in-the-nation pro bono program. 

Seicshnaydre has taught across the entire Tulane Law School curriculum, having served as the Director of our Civil Litigation Clinic from 2004 to 2016 and now covering a number of core podium courses. 

“Stacy is a gifted scholar, teacher, administrator, and leader for Tulane Law School and will be an exceptional Vice Dean as we open this next chapter in our rich history,” Richardson said in making the announcement.

Seicshnaydre is a leader across the Tulane community as well. Last year, she received the 2022 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which “recognizes a scholar for excellence in research that addresses societal inequalities and promotes social change.” 

The award recognized Seicshnaydre’s important scholarship in the field of discrimination, racial justice, and fair housing law, including her collaboration with Professor Robert Westley (winner of the 2021 inaugural Provost’s Award for Excellence in EDI) in developing their innovative course in Antiracist Lawyering.