Sin Vergüenza: Michael Olivas and Crop Cultivation
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Our focus is on Michael Olivas’s tireless efforts of mentorship toward diversifying the legal academy, and both of us are proud Olivas mentees. We build on his article, The Education of Latino Lawyers: An Essay on Crop Cultivation (1994), and detail Michael’s efforts, such as the attention-getting strategy of “naming and shaming” through the Dirty Dozen list of law schools, and include some solicited narratives from Latinas/os Michael encouraged, inspired, and even cajoled into joining the academy, to fill the diversity spaces his advocacy created. We next detail some of the challenges faced by Michael and those who follow his footsteps in ensuring diversity in the academy. We then conclude with an update and a call to action around current and needed diversity/mentoring initiatives, ultimately requiring many advocates to carry on the work of a single, tireless man, propelled by the righteous cause and acting without shame.
We actively propose solutions to the diversity dilemma in the legal academy. To dispel the classic narratives used to limit diversity, i.e., “the pool of qualified candidates is too small,” or “other candidates are just stronger,” we use regression analysis in general, and the concept of lurking variables in particular, to highlight the fallacy of these narratives to devalue diversity, particularly Latina/o diversity. Despite being at least as qualified as nondiverse counterparts, and despite increasing representation in law schools, Latina/o professors are still absent in nearly half of ABA-accredited law schools (percentages that resemble those that our mentor railed about three decades ago in his Essay on Crop Cultivation where he stated that only about one-third of U.S. law schools employed Latina/o faculty). Statistics principles of lurking variables help explain the failure of Latina/o diversification. The solution: First, we must expose the concept of lurking variables at play in legal academic hiring; and second, we must insist that diversity be considered and applied as a significant positive variable in a hiring equation.
Recommended Citation
Steven Bender and Roman Ediberto,
Sin Vergüenza: Michael Olivas and Crop Cultivation, 61 Hous. L. Rev.
(2024).
https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/faculty/858
https://houstonlawreview.org/article/118291-sin-verguenza-michael-olivas-and-crop-cultivation