The Indigenous Rights Advocacy Project (IRAP)

MISSION: The Indigenous Rights Advocacy Project (IRAP)

The Indigenous Rights Advocacy Project (IRAP) is an alliance of Native and non-Native students who aim to raise awareness and advocate for Indigenous issues in the legal context. Our meetings are open to all and are a welcoming and engaging way to meet like-minded students, learn about Indigenous legal issues, and make professional connections. This club would support Indigenous students and others interested in Indigenous legal issues and the dismantling of settler colonialism.

IRAP started as the Lenapehoking Working Group (LWG) (started by Professor Susan Herman in Fall 2021) as a committee on campus comprised of students, faculty, and the Lenape Center working to raise awareness about Indigenous rights/issues at the law school, especially in the context of the law and the land that we are on.

With the partnership of The Lenape Center, faculty and students, BLS has been in the process of creating a living land acknowledgment to recognize and honor the native people who were forcibly displaced from these lands and to help welcome those who wish to return.

This group has held multiple programs to educate our community and exchange ideas for action. We have worked on advocating for changes to the school’s curriculum and conducted surveys to understand student interest and concerns around lack of Indigenous representation in the law school curriculum and in general classroom discussion. With that, we were able to advocate for BLS to offer their first Native American Law class on campus, having started this semester!

You support will help IRAP: 

• Foster and encourage communal development;
• Provide an informational and support network for students interested in Indigenous legal and cultural issues;
• Connect with and support the work of local advocacy groups and Urban Indigenous communities;
• Advocate for institutional change within BLS to drive the increase of Indigenous students in attendance and to ensure their support and success;
• Instill a greater awareness of and commitment to the needs of Indigenous communities at BLS and beyond;
• Increase awareness of Indigenous issues, viewpoints, culture, and societies.