2022 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools: Reflections on Faculty Vocation and Support

Authors

Lucia A. Silecchia

Abstract

In the United States, numerous law schools identify themselves as “religiously affiliated.” There are many opportunities and challenges that come with such affiliation. What “religiously affiliated” may mean for a law school’s faculty is a particularly critical aspect of this question. I was grateful to have been invited to reflect on what religious affiliation might mean for faculty hiring at the “Past, Present, and Future of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools” conference. What follows are reflections that consider not merely that question—important as it is—but also explore what happens after the hiring decision to make the vocation to teach at a religiously affiliated school a happy and, yes, holy one. It will begin by examining what I believe to be the four primary types of religiously affiliated law schools. Then, it will briefly discuss some considerations for the hiring process. It will then explore some of the ways in which religiously affiliated law schools have the opportunity and the obligation to support faculty who seek to live a full vocation to academic life in a religiously affiliated law school. It will conclude with some personal reflections on my three decades living that vocation at a religiously affiliated law school.

Recommended Citation

Silecchia, Lucia A. (2023) "2022 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools: Reflections on Faculty Vocation and Support," Touro Law Review: Vol. 38: No. 4, Article 8.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/lawreview/vol38/iss4/8