About Us

The mission of the JLSA is to promote Jewish cultural awareness to the law school student body. The JLSA Constitution states: "It shall be the purpose of the Jewish Law Students Association to: Educate both Jewish students and faculty, as well as non-Jews about the Jewish faith, and further to discuss and raise awareness of legal and professional issues facing Jews today." To further this goal, the JLSA provides engaging events on pressing topics as well as events that will help students gain insight into the law. The proposed budget will further the organizations goals by providing students with experiences to not only immerse in Jewish culture, but also for law students to learn about different areas and aspects of the law. The budget allows room for the JLSA to raise awareness of Jewish holidays while also offering a chance for discussion on pressing issues of the time such as the BDS movement and rising Anti-Semitism. In addition, the events proposed by the JLSA in the budget allow for collaboration with organizations outside of the law school to create events for students. The JLSA listens to what students and members want and then we craft a budget around the interests of the students. This past year, one of the big projects JLSA worked on was having a kosher food area in the law school, which was approved by all the necessary departments. The opening of the kosher room filled a vital role to allow students who follow kosher dietary restrictions to have a place to pick up food that would not be available nearby. We would like to expand the function of this kosher room to include kosher food and events throughout the course of the year. The JLSA also hosts events that are open and for the interest to the entire law school body such as the BDS movement event and the hot topic discussion. The JLSA believes it is important for the entire UB community to be privy to interesting and insightful information that is provided at our events.