Post date: November 6, 2000

Following up on its highly successful “Celebration of Black Alumni” in September, Harvard Law School will kick off its Latino Alumni Conference on December 1st in San Antonio, Texas. The three-day conference is sponsored by the Harvard Law School Association’s Latino Committee and will recognize and honor the accomplishments of Latino alumni around the world.

“One of our greatest strengths at Harvard Law School is the diversity of our students and, therefore, our alumni,” says Dean Robert C. Clark. “I look forward to celebrating the success of the hundreds of Latino men and women who have attended the Law School and are now leaders in their respective fields.”

“The Latino Alumni of Harvard Law School are thriving professionally in all areas of the law including academia, judiciary, government service and media,” said Juanita C. Hernandez who chairs the Latino Alumni Committee of the Harvard Law School Association. “Our upcoming meeting in San Antonio will recognize the accomplishments of our alumni. Not only is this a wonderful opportunity for our group to socialize and network with old friends and classmates, it is a superb opportunity to showcase our star alumni.”

Hernandez added that the event will also explore “ways to improve and enlighten the experience at the Harvard Law School for the students present and future.”

Currently more than 600 Latino men and women count themselves as members of the HLSA Latino Committee. Some prominent Latino alumni include: Ninth Circuit Judge Ferdinand Fernandez, Texas Supreme Court Justice Al Gonzales, former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales, and George Muñoz, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

A front-page story in the New York Times highlighted the success of the Law School’s recent Celebration of Black Alumni and cited the event as part of a trend among leading colleges and universities to reach out to — and celebrate the success of — specific alumni audiences. “For the alumni, the reunions offer a chance to show that they made good use of the opportunities they were given,” the Times story reads.

Harvard Law School has nearly 32,000 alumni who live in all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the world.