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Hilda Frimpong will become the first Black student to serve as editor-in-chief of the Syracuse Law Review.

Frimpong, a second-year law student at Syracuse University, will assume the position for the 2021-22 academic year alongside a majority-female editorial board. She hopes that her team will offer a fresh perspective at the publication, which provides a forum for legal research and writing.

“Naturally our background and life experiences shape how we approach issues, whether we are cognizant of it or not,” Frimpong said. “I plan to approach this position by being my authentic self, and that authentic self has many layers.”

Frimpong hopes to uphold the review’s status as a credible legal source for practicing attorneys and academics and foster inclusivity within the organization.

Frimpong also wants to help students better understand the role of the publication so they will eventually want to contribute. Her efforts will include partnering with other student organizations, co-hosting events and engaging with different communities, she said.

Katy Morris, who will serve as a form and accuracy editor for the law review next year, said diversity is vital for law publications. At a time when the country is reckoning with its racial history, she said being a part of a step forward has brought “pride and joy.”

“Everyone who lives here is subject to our laws, and yet we have historically marginalized and silenced the perspectives of those populations who have been most vulnerable to those laws,” Morris said. “By having leadership that represents our whole society, we can make choices with the journal that help support more growth and equitable evolution in the law.”

The staff also plans to build on the foundation of last year’s edition, said Leita Powers, who will be next year’s managing editor. Powers feels a responsibility to diversify the publication’s content, especially given that the editorial board is made up almost completely of women.

“I don’t experience it as pressure necessarily, but more an opportunity,” Morris said. “I see this as a step toward a future where diversity and representation is a given and is not remarkable.”

For Frimpong, being selected as editor-in-chief during Black History Month made the moment even more special. She’s been thinking about the contributions, bravery and persistence of individuals such as William Herbert Johnson, who became the first Black person to graduate from Syracuse in 1903, but was denied admission to the New York State Bar Association because of ongoing racial discrimination in the legal profession.

Frimpong said she remembers when the association admitted Johnson posthumously in 2019, her first year at Syracuse. That moment gave her a reason for hope.

“While there is still more work to do, we’ve come a long way in recognizing diversity and inclusion, and I am honored to be part of this,” Frimpong said.

Published on February 28, 2021 at 10:51 pm

gfpagano@syr.edu