Seeing Is Believing for These Law Students

Scalia Law students Sahara Shrestha, Chinyelum (Chi-Chi) Olele, Bianca Hancock-Siggers, Sally Alghazali, and Shanessa Guidry — The confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court was affirmation to (top row l-r) Sahara Shrestha, Chinyelum (Chi-Chi) Olele, Bianca Hancock-Siggers, (bottom l-r) Sally Alghazali, and Shanessa Guidry that there's a place for them, too.

Of the 115 judges who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court, 108 of them have been White men. This summer, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will spark a change, as she becomes the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the court’s 233-year history. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 7.

“I’m beyond thrilled that she got confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court, and I look forward to seeing the court one day becoming even more representative of what this nation looks like,” said Sally Alghazali, a third-year law student at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

Several students of color, including leaders of Mason’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), said Judge Jackson’s accomplishment gives them renewed confidence that there is a place for them.

Here’s what they had to say.