As the Stanford Center for Racial Justice marks its 5-year anniversary in 2025, we reflect upon the central role of students in our work. Coming from departments across the university, law students, graduate, and undergraduate students have convened at the Center to support a multitude of projects and initiatives. Whether as interns, fellows, or practicum students, they have all found a unique community at the Center while engaging in rigorous research to advance racial justice. We are thrilled to celebrate their impact in a new video featuring their work, insights, and vision for the future—highlighted in this article written by one of our current research assistants, Brian Williams, JD ‘27.
“Often, students come to law school wanting to serve justice or wanting to change society, but then they find themselves in first-year classes and they’re feeling disconnected or removed from these pressing issues that brought them to law school. The Center for Racial Justice is in part an effort to reconnect students with the desires that brought them to law school,” says Ralph Richard Banks, Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Stanford Center for Racial Justice (SCRJ).
In June 2020, SCRJ was founded by Banks and Diane Chin, who served as the Acting Director and is currently the Co-Director of the Stanford Law Scholars Institute. The Center set out to serve the entire university, establishing a focal point for campus-wide efforts to advance racial justice. It aims to counter racial division and political polarization through rigorous research that analyzes the racial dimensions of the most contentious and consequential issues in American society. At the core of the Center’s charge was the commitment to train a new generation of leaders—leaders who think differently and draw on nuance and complexity to challenge entrenched racial inequalities in the U.S. Five years later, the Center’s mission remains as urgent and vital as ever.
Celebrating the Center’s anniversary brings excitement and reflection, as the country also solemnly remembers the murder of George Floyd. We remember a tragedy that launched a time of heightened racial tension and ignited a global reckoning with systemic racism and police violence. His death laid bare the urgent need for transformative change. While some progress has been made, much work remains on our journey toward justice. Floyd’s legacy and the apex of national protest and civil unrest remind us that justice is not inevitable—it is won through relentless struggle. SCRJ’s new video highlighting the student experience commemorates this milestone and recommits us to the work ahead to advance racial justice.
Students Reflect on their Experiences at SCRJ
SCRJ hosts several different programs for Stanford law students, graduate, and undergraduate students to support our work. Whether through the internship program, fellowships, or practicum courses, students from across the university in all disciplines have a variety of opportunities to learn, engage, and make an impact on racial justice.
“I had an amazing first quarter as an intern with the Center,” says Imani Nokuri, JD ‘25. “Since then, my work has become a lot more pointed, a lot more substantive, and my work product has been able to be published and seen by people who I would’ve never imagined would’ve seen my work—so that was really awesome.” Remeny White, JD ‘24, explains, “Of all of the internships, research assistantships that I’ve done at the law school this one was the most hands-on and the most where I felt like I was a smaller part of a bigger whole. That was really refreshing.”
“Of all of the internships, research assistantships that I’ve done at the law school this one was the most hands-on and the most where I felt like I was a smaller part of a bigger whole. That was really refreshing.” – Remeny White, JD ’24
The Center provides students a reprieve from the doctrinal stresses of law school. As Andrew Baker, JD ‘26, recounts, “Being an intern really did feel like this sort of sheltered space at SLS away from the storm, where it was just collaborating with people, talking about things you care about. Everyone’s on the same page with what we want to accomplish. Our values are aligned, and it’s this really organic and kind of unique experience, especially during this 1L year, which can be really intense.” Evan Engel, JD ‘24, felt similarly, expressing that “Experiences like the Center help you break out of [the bubble] and help you evaluate your experience at the law school generally, in terms that are not just based on the grade.”
Policy practicums also play a big role for students at the Center. Students in LAW 809D: What’s Next? After Students for Fair Admissions worked alongside the teaching team and their peers to develop a white paper that challenges stakeholders to rethink higher education following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn race-based affirmative action. As Marissa Uri, JD ‘25, put it, the Center “engaged students from a variety of different schools—so we had undergrads in the class [and] grad students. And then we had four instructors who had a lot of different viewpoints, and we got to interact a lot with community members and stakeholders, which is something I wasn’t expecting but a really cool way that the policy lab engaged different communities.”
The Center supports a vibrant community of students united by purpose. Whether collaborating in policy labs or other programs, students find mentorship, community, and support to challenge their learning and advocacy. Emphasizing the unique community that students build, Delia Appiah Mensah, JD ‘26, says, “Working with other students was definitely the best part of the Center for Racial Justice. . . . We were all working on our own individual projects, but yet they were connected in some way. And so I learned how their ideas can also impact mine.” Katelin Zhou, BA ‘24, says the “different staff members and students and also faculty members . . . played a really big part in just mentoring and guiding the scope of the projects that I was working on. We were tackling really big picture questions and they served as the grounding force to guide me whenever I was confused or give me advice and also highlight new and diverse perspectives that I wasn’t always considering.”
In reflecting on his aspirations for SCRJ, Banks says, “What I keep coming back to is the idea that we want to challenge [students] to think differently, to try to grapple with some of our most difficult issues in a way that’s open-minded, that’s honest, that’s not beholden to any particular ideology. A way that is really focused on analytical rigor, for bringing clarity, for appreciating nuance, grasping complexity, and ultimately proposing solutions. Those are all the things that I want the Racial Justice Center to be, and thereby to help the university be better as well.”
“What I keep coming back to is the idea that we want to challenge [students] to think differently, to try to grapple with some of our most difficult issues in a way that’s open-minded, that’s honest, that’s not beholden to any particular ideology. A way that is really focused on analytical rigor, for bringing clarity, for appreciating nuance, grasping complexity, and ultimately proposing solutions. Those are all the things that I want the Racial Justice Center to be, and thereby to help the university be better as well.” – Rick Banks, Faculty Director
For Prospective Students
The 2025-26 Harry Bremond-Wilson Sonsini Foundation Student Fellowship application window is now open! Rising 2Ls and 3Ls at Stanford Law School can learn more and are encouraged to apply here. Applications are due by 11:59 pm on Sunday, June 15, 2025.
Stanford law students, graduate, and undergraduate students who are interested in working with SCRJ should view the various opportunities listed on our website, including our courses. For inquiries, please contact Hoang Pham, Director of Education and Opportunity, at hgpham@law.stanford.edu.
Brian Williams (JD ‘27) (he/him) is a first-year student at Stanford Law School pursuing his J.D. and Masters in Health Policy. Originally from Broward County, Florida, his studies inform a broad perspective on the social determinants of health and encourage advocacy for research and policy measures in the field. He aims to be a skilled public health advocate, committed to affecting real change in marginalized communities through organizing health-focused federal agencies, with a specific interest in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He earned his Bachelors at MIT in Biological Engineering with a minor in Black Studies in 2022. For the following two years, he worked at Deloitte Consulting, providing business strategy support to health and justice focused clients. At Stanford, he is part of the Health Equity Pro Bono Project and is a member of the 2025-26 Western Region Black Law Students Association Board.
Follow the Stanford Center for Racial Justice on LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter.
