History
The history of TMSL can be traced back to a 1946 lawsuit implicating protections for racial minorities under the U.S. Constitution, Sweatt v. Painter , brought by Heman M. Sweatt, and tried by Thurgood Marshall. [5] The Texas Constitution mandated separate but equal facilities for whites and blacks. Sweatt was refused admission to the University of Texas School of Law because he was black. In order to pre-empt the possibility of Sweatt obtaining a successful court order, the legislature passed Texas State Senate Bill 140, which established a university to offer courses of higher learning in law, pharmacy, dentistry, journalism, education, arts and sciences, literature, medicine, and other professional courses. It opened in 1946 as the "Texas State University for Negroes," and later changed its name in Texas Southern University in 1951.
In 2016, TMSL began to offer a Master of Laws in Immigration and Naturalization Law. The program is the first Masters of Law program in the nation to focus on immigration law. [6]
In 2017, The American Bar Association (ABA) formally censured the school as "being out of compliance with its nondiscrimination standard as well as the standard that requires disclosure of information to the ABA. More specifically, an ABA site visit team found evidence of gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the law school" and was "required to establish a plan to eliminate gender discrimination and sex harassment." Months prior, the ABA had also "found Texas Southern University School of Law (TMSL) out of compliance with the standards meant to ensure schools only admit students who appear capable of graduating and passing the bar." [7] In 2020, the ABA concluded TMSL was in compliance with all accreditation standards. [8]
Admissions and student demographics
Of the 1,914 students who applied to TMSL to start in fall 2024, 682 were accepted (a 35.63% admission rate), and 209 of those offered admission enrolled (a 28.45% yield rate). The enrolled students had an average LSAT score of 150, and an average college GPA of 3.21. The reported 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPAs were 148/152 and 2.73/3.61. [3]
As of October, 2024, out of a student body of 551 members, 298 were African-American, 26 Asian-American, 50 White, 167 Hispanic, 4 American Indian or Alaska Native, and 6 Unknown, for a Total People of Color of 495. [2]
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