Law School Student: “Remember Your ‘Why'”

Born and raised in Chicago, Tiara Badie graduated from Howard University, a historically black college, with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Criminology. She is currently attending Marquette University Law School where she is secretary of the Black Law Student Association, a member of the Intellectual Property Law Society, and part of the Advisory Board for the Counseling Center. 

Q-Glendalys Valdez Gonzalez: What are you currently working on?

A-Tiara Badie: Besides school, I have an internship in All Voting is Local Wisconsin in partnership with the Marquette Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach. In this role, I research issues relating to voting rights, and I am currently working on a series of briefs advocating for jail-based voting in Wisconsin. I am also a Democracy fellow for campus vote projects.

Q: In general, how has your experience been at Marquette Law School?

A: Coming from Howard, a historically black college, it has been a culture shock because I got used to being in an environment where I wasn’t the minority and most students were people of color so it was a safe place but education-wise my experience has been positive.

Q: How difficult was that transition for you?

A: There is anxiety that comes with it being one of the few people of color in the class and myself and other students of color often talk about the pressure that we feel from our families. Also, you never know how people will perceive you. In law school, we are on-call so professors call students at random so that is an example of a time if you have a bad on-call or maybe you didn’t know the answer, you don’t know if the other people in your class are giving you the benefit of the doubt or if you are being looked as a representative for your race. Also, feeling like you belong is hard.

Q: Can you recall any positive or negative things that you have gone through at the Law School?

A: I have been able to find a great group of friends that we all support each other in our personal lives and our school work. I also had some professors that during the time of quarantine, have really thought about making students feel comfortable and they’ve been a resource for students and that is not something you often get in a professional setting.

Q: Marquette University has recently been in the spotlight due to rising racial issues. As a Black Law Student, do you think this also rings true for Marquette Law School?

A: I do. Especially in Law School, I think that the default is for administration to try to be politically correct but it’s difficult as a student of color when we have cried out to the administration asking for certain resources and asking for more inclusivity and it is not really met.

It’s difficult because to us is our life and we are who we are, so when they try to tread lightly on something that we are passionate about it’s hurtful. I definitely think there could be some improvement. This past summer the Black Law Student Association had to make a petition just to get the school to acknowledge the Black Lives Matter movement.  I don’t think that it’s because they don’t care but rather that appearances are prioritized over students and we are real people.

Q: What have you learned this past year about yourself, the community or the people around you?

A: I’ve definitely learned that I miss human interaction and learned how much we all value community and closeness.

Q: I heard that you have started a new organization on campus.

A: It is called the Diverse Women Lawyers Organization. There are not a lot of women in the legal field, especially women of color, so this organization came from the want of having a safe space for women of color to relate to one another and talk about issues that face our community. As women of color, we face misogyny but also racism, which are two obstacles that through this organization, we want to be able to provide a safe space and resources for.

Q. If you could give any advice to future minority Law Students, what would you say?

A: Remember your why.

The biggest advice that someone gave to me was “remember your why.” As a minority, you have to remember your motivating factor, why you started, why you decided to become a lawyer because law school is tough and by remembering this, you will see it through.