he Law School student body is very diverse in terms of academic background and predictors of law school and bar passage success: the LSAT and GPA. Recent data shows low bar exam-passage rates for some of our graduates. We are seeing troubling racially disparate outcomes in in these rates – especially for our Native American graduates. They need more support from us to be well-prepared the bar exam.  

Student support opportunities include bar preparation programming, additional mentoring, living expense stipends, and payment of bar preparation course fees. The School could create a “boot camp” to support students with low GPA or LSAT scores. The boot camp would provide an intensive course that would level the playing field with their peers at the start of law school. Funds would pay for faculty and staff time for a one-week course before the start of each fall semester. An initial fund would support a pilot boot camp; recurring funding would allow it to continue.  

Increasing bar passage rates is imperative to the Law School’s American Bar Association accreditation, its standing in legal and academic communities, and its U.S. News & World Report ranking.  

$10,000 to $1 million of philanthropic funding will provide annual support for bar passage. 

$20,000 of philanthropic funding will fund pre-law courses for incoming students.  

$20,000 of philanthropic funding will increase existing support for the Law and Indigenous Peoples Program. 

This initiative supports our mission to attract and retain a talented and diverse student body. Scholarship funding would enable us to provide full-ride scholarships (tuition, fees, and living expenses) to 10 New Mexico resident students. We would like to award five scholarships to Native students and five scholarships based on merit.  

The School of Law is a leader in the development of Indian law and the education of Native students. Most of our Native students enter law school with a great deal of financial need. By supporting them financially during law school, we also support their success. Additionally, Native American applicants are often recruited out of state by schools who can actively compete by offering full-tuition or full-ride scholarships.  We want to be able to make equivalent offers to our Native applicants.  

The School depends on having a cadre of students with high indicators of success in law school to ensure the best educational experience for all students and for U.S. News & World Report ranking purposes. Applicants with high LSATs and undergraduate GPAs are admitted to more competitive, higher-ranked law schools. Law schools compete for these applicants, and often, the Law School can succeed in matriculating these applicants only by offering full-ride, merit-based scholarships. 

$4 million of philanthropic funding will establish 5 full-ride scholarships for Native American students. 

$4 million of philanthropic funding will establish 5 full-ride merit-based scholarships. 

The Law School building, designed by prominent architect Antoine Predock, opened in 1970. The building has lost its majesty since then. Most of the spaces and finishes remain unchanged since the building opened 52 years ago. The building is now very dated and in need of significant updates.  

Our venue also needs to be renovated. It once served as cafeteria for faculty, staff, and students; it is now a mostly empty room with limited seating and a few refrigerators and microwaves, but no sink. After renovation, a vendor can occupy the space to sell food and beverages to our students, staff, and faculty.  

UNM has purchased the leasehold for the main floor of the neighboring building. This space, the New Mexico Law Center, also is dated and worn and needs complete renovation. We need the extra space offered by that building for a student center, offices, and additional classrooms. The School of Law will seek funding from the New Mexico State Legislature for this project, and we are on the legislative priority list with the University. However, we likely will need additional funds to complete the work. The renovation project presents a naming opportunity. 

$2 million of philanthropic funding will help us update the School of Law’s facilities. 

$16 million of philanthropic funding will allow us to renovate the adjacent New Mexico Law Center building.