Bill Text: VA SJR137 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Risa Goluboff.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-04 - Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ137ER) [SJR137 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SJR137-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff, a renowned legal historian, professor, and education administrator, will step down from her position as dean of the University of Virginia School of Law on June 30, 2024; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law (UVA Law) in 2002 and became its dean in 2016; in addition to her deanship, she is currently the Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law, teaching courses on American constitutional and civil rights law; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff is an award-winning scholar whose publications include Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s and The Lost Promise of Civil Rights; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff made history at UVA Law both by becoming the school's first female dean and through her achievements in the areas of faculty hiring, fundraising, and student experience; and
WHEREAS, over her eight-year tenure, Risa Goluboff secured the hiring of 34 new faculty members and established 13 new centers to advance their scholarship, contributing greatly to the academic rigor of UVA Law and to the impact the school has on the broader legal community; and
WHEREAS, under Risa Goluboff's leadership, UVA Law has increased its endowment by more than 76 percent to $831 million, with historic donations from Martha and Bruce Karsh resulting in the establishment of the Karsh-Dillard Scholarships, the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff has shaped UVA Law into one of the preeminent law schools in the country, garnering the institution top rankings across various categories measuring academics and student life, including recognition as the number one school for Best Quality of Life by The Princeton Review each year of her tenure as dean; and
WHEREAS, through myriad initiatives, Risa Goluboff has bolstered opportunities for students seeking careers in both the public and private sectors and for those seeking court clerkships, leading UVA Law to recently post the nation's highest percentage of graduates obtaining full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff served as chair of the UVA Deans Working Group following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and has fostered a positive and supportive community at UVA throughout her tenure by championing accessibility and inclusivity at the school; and
WHEREAS, Risa Goluboff will remain a professor at UVA Law following her term as dean, ensuring the school will continue to benefit from her compassionate and visionary leadership for years to come; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Risa Goluboff, Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, as she concludes her tenure as the school's dean; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Risa Goluboff as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her accomplishments in service to the University of Virginia and the Commonwealth.
