The Welcome Table with Max Gaston

In this episode of The Welcome Table , Max Gaston sits down with Liz Bodamer, Senior Director of Research at the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), to explore the evolving landscape of law school admissions and the challenges facing DEI in legal education. As law schools adapt to major shifts in admissions policies, including the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on affirmative action, Max and Liz d...

In this episode of The DEI Podcast , we explore the rich and multifaceted nature of Black identity. Max is joined by three Notre Dame Law students, each offering a unique perspective shaped by their cultural backgrounds, lived experiences, and legal aspirations. Together, they challenge the monolithic perception of Blackness, discussing cultural assumptions, belonging in Black spaces, and the impa...

Judicial clerkships are typically characterized as an unadulterated good—lifelong mentor-mentee relationships between judges and law clerks that confer professional benefits. But little information exists to help law students identify positive work environments and avoid judges who mistreat their clerks. At the Legal Accountability Project, Aliza Shatzman works to ensure that law clerks have posit...

In his best-selling book, The Color of Law , Richard Rothstein demolished the de facto segregation myth that Black and White Americans live separately by choice, providing the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation. Aware that twenty-first-century segregation continues to promote entrenched inequality...

In this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max sits down with civil rights attorney and Senior Advisor at Democracy Forward, Sunu Chandy, to explore the shifting legal landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs over a year after the Supreme Court’s historic decision to strike down affirmative action in college admissions. Last June marked the one-year anniversary of this landmark ruling...

On this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max is joined in the studio by Marisa Simon, the Director of Admissions at Notre Dame Law School. Together, they answer questions submitted online by prospective students about the law school and the admissions process. From considerations for GPA and LSAT splitters to crafting a compelling personal statement, Marisa and Max cover it all. They also delve into th...

In this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max talks with Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author and Notre Dame alum, about his latest book, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance . Jemar’s book illuminates the often-overlooked heroes of the racial justice movement and explores how faith has deeply influenced the struggle for racial equality across both historical and...

In this episode of the DEI Podcast, Max Gaston sits down with Diahann Billings, attorney, and CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), to explore the transformative power of sports in driving social change. They dive into how sports can influence individual behavior, unite diverse communities, and challenge social inequities. Diahann shares insights on key RISE programs, including...

According to research, bias is a habit that begins to take shape at an early age. As we form our own social identities surrounding things like ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, religion, and gender, we start to identify as members of a specific group of people. These identities in many ways can shape how we see and treat others — and how others see and treat us. At the University of Wisconsin–M...

Have you ever felt like an imposter? Unqualified for the job, less intelligent than your classmates, or undeserving of your accomplishments, and that somehow you managed to convince others you were more capable than you really are? In this episode of the DEI Podcast with Max Gaston , we revisit Max's conversation with Dr. Kevin Cokley, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who studies the i...

In this episode, three students from the Notre Dame Black Law Students Association join Max for a lively discussion on the power of representation in law school, the complexity and pervasiveness of stereotypes, and contemporary social issues in the Black community, the legal profession, and beyond.

In his best-selling book, The Color of Law , Richard Rothstein demolished the de facto segregation myth that Black and White Americans live separately by choice, providing the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation. Aware that twenty-first-century segregation continues to promote entrenched inequality...

In recent years, the business case for diversity has emerged as the go-to argument for why organizations should prioritize diversity in their recruiting efforts. Though most organizations don’t feel the need to explain why they care about core values such as innovation, resilience, or integrity, when it comes to diversity, lengthy justifications on the value of hiring a “diverse workforce” have be...

Judicial clerkships are typically characterized as an unadulterated good—lifelong mentor-mentee relationships between judges and law clerks that confer professional benefits. But little information exists to help law students identify positive work environments and avoid judges who mistreat their clerks. At the Legal Accountability Project, Aliza Shatzman works to ensure that law clerks have posit...

Have you ever heard the phrase “I don’t see color,” when talking about race or ethnicity? Color blindness is the idea that ignoring or overlooking racial and ethnic differences promotes racial harmony and helps us treat people equally. But research shows that color blindness does just the opposite and can actually cause more harm in our interactions with people of different backgrounds. At the Que...

“Innocent people should not be in prison.” (Anna McGinn, Notre Dame Law School ‘22). In the latest episode of the DEI Podcast, Max revisits his conversation on exoneration justice with two lawyers who are working to free the innocent. Exoneration justice is the tireless effort to free innocent people imprisoned after being wrongfully convicted of crimes, and to provide them with rehabilitative ser...

Have you ever felt like an imposter? Unqualified for the job, less intelligent than your classmates, or undeserving of your accomplishments, and that somehow you managed to convince others you were more capable than you really are? In this episode of the DEI Podcast with Max Gaston , we revisit Max's conversation with Dr. Kevin Cokley, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who studies the i...

In episode 4 of the DEI Podcast, Max sits down with Marisa Simon, Director of Admissions at Notre Dame Law School, to discuss updates to the Law School’s admissions application in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC . Topics covered by timestamp: 2:37 - Discussing the Supreme Court’s dec...

This episode of the DEI Podcast is part-two of our discussion on perspectives of Black men in the legal profession with Notre Dame Law School 3Ls Joshua Mannery, Jakim Aaron, and Jamal Wilson. Topics covered with timestamps: 2:43 – Culture add vs culture fit: discussing being yourself in the workplace versus trying to blend in with your peers and fit in with the law firm culture to find success. 1...

Black men make up less than 5% of lawyers in the United States. Though drastically underrepresented in the legal profession, Black men are overrepresented in the number of incarcerated people in the US, where one out of every three Black boys born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime. It’s rare that we get a chance to hear the perspectives of Black men in the legal profession and under...

According to research, bias is a habit that begins to take shape at an early age. As we form our own social identities surrounding things like ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, religion, and gender, we start to identify as members of a specific group of people. These identities in many ways can shape how we see and treat others — and how others see and treat us. At the University of Wisconsin–M...

Imagine being at risk of losing your home. For many low-income families, record unemployment caused by Covid-19 and Covid related deaths of income-earning family members have made the threat of foreclosure a real concern. Annika Neilson-Kim, an attorney at Legal Aid Chicago and one of Notre Dame Law School’s Thomas L Shaffer public interest fellows works with homeowners in Illinois to prevent home...

What happens to a person's mind when you lock them in a cage no bigger than a parking space? When they’re constantly exposed to dehumanizing, unsanitary, loud, and violent conditions? When red-flags continuously signal their mental decline, but no one cares or tries to help? On this episode of the DEI Podcast, we’re joined by Madison Kemker, an attorney with the Uptown People’s Law Center in Chica...

“Innocent people should not be in prison.” (Anna McGinn, Notre Dame Law School ‘22). Exoneration justice is the tireless effort to free innocent people imprisoned after being wrongfully convicted of crimes, and to provide them with rehabilitative services. Jessa Webber and Anna McGinn, Notre Dame Law School’s Bank of America Foundation Fellows, have dedicated their legal careers to this work. This...

Have you ever felt like an imposter? Unqualified for the job, less intelligent than your classmates, or undeserving of your accomplishments, and that somehow you managed to convince others you were more capable than you really are? In this episode of the DEI Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Kevin Cokley, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who studies the imposter phenomenon. Dr. Cokley resea...