Page 45 - BusinessWest March 17, 2021

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tasks include everything from directing traffic for the few events that have been staged to making sure the buildings on the grounds are secure. “Everyone has had to pitch in.”
As for the last three quarters of 2021, Cassidy said there are certainly some signs of optimism with his industry. For example, the Canadian govern- ment recently gave the green light for the popular Calgary Stampede to take place in June. Meanwhile, the Pasco County Fair in Florida was recently staged, albeit with a number of restric- tions and safety precautions in place.
Cassidy took it in while on a trip to Tampa for ‘Florida Week’ and a number of trade association meetings that were staged in-person, which is significant
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they’re out looking for jobs, they can say, ‘not only do I have this skill set, I also have remote competencies in cli- ent representation; I’ve been a remote mediator, I’ve represented people in a criminal proceeding remotely.’ These are remarkable experiences they’re having — they’re very different, but absolutely what we need to do.”
Those graduates are entering a job market that has proven resilient during the pandemic, Setty said, noting that the contraction of law-school enroll- ment nationally a decade ago has grad- ually increased demand for talent.
“The employment piece for the folks graduating during the pandemic, I think there’s still uncertainty around that,” she said. “But for the most part, our graduates have kept their jobs.”
The school has added some faculty members in the past two years, most recently Jennifer Taub, who specializes in white-collar crime, criminal pro- cedures, and other business-law sub- jects, and authored the book Big Dirty Money: the Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime.
“We’re on a positive swing,” Setty said. “The energy of our students, our
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on transgender military service, the appointment of anti-LGBTQIA+ judges at various levels of the judicial system, the rolling back of the Obama-era Civil Rights Act protecting transgender and non-binary workers from employment discrimination, and the rescinding of Title IX rules requiring schools, includ- ing colleges and universities, to address sexual harassment, including sexual violence.
“As with everything in life, there is
a constant ebb and flow,” Martin and Hickson continued. “On the first day of the Biden-Harris administration, Presi- dent Biden signed an executive order
in and of itself, he noted, adding that the main topic of conversation, obvi- ously, was how to stage events safely.
“Interestingly, at the Pasco County Fair, we were there on a Tuesday night, it was chilly, but the fair manager indi- cated that attendance actually exceed- ed what it was last year, and he attrib- uted that to the fact that people want to get out,” he recalled. “They want to resume ‘normal,’ and that’s in a state where businesses have been open and Main Street is open.”
But while he can look ahead and try to plan, there are too many question marks to do the latter with any amount of efficacy. These question marks sur- round everything from what the atten- dance restrictions will be to whether — and under what conditions — the state buildings can open, to whether individuals and families will be willing
faculty, and our staff has been terrific. Working through a pandemic requires a lot in terms of navigating the uncer- tainty and the need to adapt, but also all the hours it takes for faculty and staff to dig in and collectively make this work so we can have in-person educa- tion here.”
Community Focus
Setty took the reins as dean of the School of Law in 2018 after 12 years as a professor at WNEU. She first joined the faculty in 2006 as a professor of Law and associate dean for Faculty Development and Intellectual Life, and has produced notable scholarship in the areas of comparative law, rule of law, and national security.
Through her career, she has main- tained that law schools are in a unique position to impact the future of a just society, and she has always seen WNEU as a place that launches the careers
of thoughtful lawyers who work for
the betterment of both their clients and society as a whole. The Center for Social Justice has been an important part of that philosophy over the past two years.
“I really wanted to establish this
preventing and combating discrimi- nation on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, reinstating the LGBTQIA+ protections the Trump administration removed. More recently, the administration has directed the Department of Education to ‘review
all of its existing regulations, orders, guidance, and policies to ensure con- sistency with the Biden-Harris admin- istration’s policy that students be guaranteed education free from sexual violence.’ This includes an evaluation of the Title IX burden of proof issued under the previous administration.”
As stated, the ebb and flow of policy continue to take us away from set-
to come back out and be part of a mass gathering on the midway or one of the concert venues.
The major consideration is what will be permitted for attendance, said Cassidy, adding that it’s a simple but troubling fact that the costs of operat- ing the fair will be roughly the same whether it’s at full capacity, 50%, or some other number. But the bottom line is that a smaller fair, attendance- wise, is certainly preferable to no fair at all.
“It costs the same to produce the fair for 1.6 million people as it does to produce the fair for one,” he said. “Our staff is preparing a conventional Big E and will try to deliver the product we’re known for.”
Cassidy believes that, as he saw in Florida, there will a significant amount of pent-up demand and that people
center and get it off the ground, and it has been terrific,” she said, crediting grants from MassMutual, individual law firms, and other entities to help fund its programming. “Not only is it a way to help our students and meet the social-justice mission of the law school, but it does such good work in the community. It’s great for attracting new students, but it’s also great for the work it does.”
Areas of focus have included eco- nomic justice, racial justice, and a recent effort, funded by a WNEU alum, to create an LGBTQ speaker series and support summer work in that realm for two students each year.
“It draws people in with a lot of interests,” she said of the center. “People come to law school want- ing to make the world a better place, and they’re wondering how to do that — this speaks to them in a way that’s really profound.”
In fact, the law school as a whole has taken a hard look at its own efforts toward racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, Setty said, from the coursework to how it con- nects with the outside community on issues like police practices.
“We have made an effort to think
ting a more consistent, inclusive world and workplace where all people can succeed.
As we move past International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, there must be even more com- mitment to revisiting practices in work- places, classrooms, boardrooms, meet- ing places, and Zoom rooms to deliver equity, belonging, and dismantling ‘isms.’ Also, we must begin to employ new ways for engaging, recognizing, and retaining black women, Latinas, and women of color who are still hid- den in plain view. u
will want to return to the fairgrounds. “The common citizen wants their
life to return to normal,” he said. “So I think people will come out ... they will come back to fair.”
Reichelt agreed, and said the return of the fair this fall, even a smaller fair, will help the region’s economy and, specifically, many of those hospitality- related businesses that have been deeply impacted by the pandemic.
“Having it happen will be good, not only for the Big E, but for the region
to bring back that sense of normalcy,” he noted. “And it will be helpful for businesses in the area as they start to recover from all this.” u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
more about this and integrate it into our curriculum and how we engage in the larger community, but I want to
do it in a sustained fashion so it’s not like, ‘oh, that was the focus for 2020; we don’t have to think about it anymore.’ The idea is to integrate it into who
we are as a law school and focus on it going forward as well. It shouldn’t be a flavor-of-the-month issue, and then we move on.”
Setty is, however, more than ready to move past the pandemic and wel- come students back on campus full- time, but she’s proud of what has been accomplished during the past unprec- edented year.
“A lot of law schools were fully online for the full year, but we made
a commitment and said, ‘we want to see our students in person and make this work,’” she told BusinessWest. “And we’ve been relatively successful. I continue to be really grateful to be the dean — particularly at a time when it’s required so much collective effort to make this happen.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
Janine Fondon is a writer, speaker, assistant professor, and chair of Undergraduate Communications at Bay Path University. She is a frequent contributor to publications and media outlets on the topics of social justice, women’s history, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She recently curated and produced an exhibit and series of public events at Springfield Museums, called “Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move.” She was named a 2020 Difference Maker by BusinessWest, a 2020 Pynchon Award winner, and
one of the top African-American female professors in 2018 by the African American Female Professors Assoc.
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