Jason Koski/University Photography

Leslie Wheelock '84, director of the Office of Tribal Relations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, speaks at the 2015 Law School Professional Development boot camp.

After attending the August 2011 job fair, Marihug Cedeño ’13 returned to the Law School determined to make a change. Working with fellow members of the Latino American Law Student Association (LALSA), she’d reach out to alumni, law firm recruiters and corporate sponsors to organize a weekend workshop for the following year’s first-year students.

“Going through the job fair, I had questions I wanted answered,” said Cedeño, in Ithaca for the fourth annual Professional Development Boot Camp, co-hosted by LALSA, the Black Law Student Association (BLSA) and the Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) March 13-14. “Where were the alumni of color who’d been through this process? How could we contact them? How could we gain their support? That’s how it started, with the idea of helping first-year students get the anxiety out and the practice in while building community.”

In the years since the first LALSA/BLSA program, the event has grown steadily. This year’s boot camp began with keynote speaker Leslie Wheelock J.D./MBA ’84, director of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Tribal Relations, followed by two days of panel discussions, workshops and mock interviews, with 18 alumni presenters, 26 upperclass advisers and more than 50 first-years in attendance, culminating in a closing speech by Eduardo Peñalver ’94, the Allan R. Tessler Dean and professor of law.

“At Cornell Law, our twin values have always been excellence and inclusion, so this event is wholly in keeping with our best traditions,” said Peñalver, summing up a history that began with Andrew Dickson White’s promise to instruct students regardless of sex or color, and continues into the present with Cornell near the top of the diversity ranking among the country’s law schools.

Wheelock, an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, talked about the importance of considering alternate careers outside Big Law, giving back to the community and building an effective network of supporters.

“Law school is tough, which is why it’s important to have events like this,” said Wheelock. “There’s a strength that comes from bringing these communities together, in knowing there’s a support system you can rely on.”

At Saturday’s Ivy Room luncheon, first-years sat with upperclass students and alumni, sharing plans for the summer. Maria E. Fernandez ’92, senior counsel at IBM, described the event as an example of “diversity in the best sense” that encourages students to leverage their cultural identities into their strengths as lawyers.

“We have a very supportive environment here, and this boot camp really gets that across,” said Edoardo Murillo ’16, a member of LALSA and the event’s organizing committee. “The minority community here is very tight, very cohesive, very responsive to one another’s needs.”

“It’s been a really good couple of days,” added Melicia Morris ’16, president of BLSA and a member of the organizing committee. “Our goal is to create an inclusive and enlightening program that gives 1L students an opportunity to polish their skills in advance of the August job fair. It’s a great tradition, and we hope it will continue for generations to come.”

Kenneth Berkowitz is a writer for the Law School.