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Law School Dean Deidré Keller
FAMU COLLEGE OF LAW DEAN
AIMS FOR ‘SUSTAINED SUCCESS’
BY [ Mildred GRAHAM ]
ORLANDO — For many of us, the names Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd stir up deep emotions.
For Deidré (pronounced DAY-dra) Keller, their names and stories served as catalysts for a shift in ambitions that ultimately led to her current position as dean and professor of law at the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law.
“I distinctly remember talking to my son after George Zimmerman’s notguilty verdict,” said Keller, the mother of six, including five young men “Then, Tamir Rice was killed two hours away from where we lived. He was the same age as my middle son. I remember thinking — as a mother, a lawyer, and a law professor — I had no answers for my children.
“That’s when I began to make a concerted effort to work on racial justice in my scholarship and through service. I was determined to show my children that I was doing my part to make a difference.
Keller said, as similar cases hit the news, her life changed.
“I moved into legal education administration,” she said. “I knew that I wanted to come to an HBCU law school; because of its unique history of advocacy, FAMU College of Law offered the ideal opportunity to drive positive change through the academy.”
Keller comes to FAMU after 10 years at the Claude W. Pettit College of Law, a private, non-profit law school located in Ada, OH. It is the law school of Ohio Northern University, and the second oldest law school in Ohio, founded in 1885. Her teaching included Property, Intellectual Property, Law & Literature, and The Legal History of Montgomery, Alabama. Keller writes at the intersections of intellectual property, personhood, and critical race theory.
Before teaching, Keller practiced law in Atlanta, with the firms of Sutherland Asbill and Brennan, LLP, and Seyfarth Shaw, LLP. She specialized in intellectual property counseling and procurement, focusing on trademarks and copyrights.
Since beginning her tenure on July 1, Keller has adeptly balanced the weight of the pandemic with the challenges facing the law school that was re-established in 2002. For 20202021, Keller has articulated “Sustained Success through Community” as the College’s focus, highlighting recruiting and retaining highly qualified students; improving student outcomes; and deepening and broadening the College’s relationships with key constituencies.
COVID-19 required Keller to tackle those strategic goals while prioritizing the safety of the law school community.
“Within the first month of my arrival, I received a recommendation from the College’s task force on the pandemic to adjust the plan for hybrid instruction to a plan for primarily virtual instruction for the Fall. The task force’s recommendation was data-driven and took into consideration the concerns of faculty, staff, and students. Accepting that recommendation illustrates my data-driven, collaborative approach.”
While the impact of the pandemic on Spring 2021 continues to evolve, Keller has leaned into the task of recruiting credentialed applicants while reaffirming the mission of acceptance. Critical to that effort is the need to secure scholarship funding sufficient to attract and retain top students.
Keller shared that critical need during the National Alumni Association’s Virtual Founders’ Day celebration on Oct. 3 and alumni responded generously, with more than $30,000 in pledges and donations.
“The members of the FAMU National Alumni Association stand ready to support the endeavors of our beloved College of Law,” said Lt. Colonel Gregory Clark, president of the FAMU National Alumni Association. “The student body enrolled in our Law School is among the best in the United States, and we want to provide them every opportunity to become successful.”
In addition to the focus on recruiting well-qualified students, Keller has directed attention to improving the college’s bar-passage rate and expanding career opportunities for students and graduates. Utilizing data to identify opportunities to enhance student success, and employing faculty, financial and other resources to address those specific needs, Keller has stressed continual bar pass improvement as a priority. While the most recent pass rate on the Florida Bar Exam was 61.7 percent,Keller said the goal is to achieve a bar-pass rate that is consistently above 80 percent. To increase career exposure and practical experience, the law school recently launched a Mentoring Program, matching 57 law students with 57 lawyers from across the country, including 11 judges and 24 law alumni.
Since taking on her new post, Keller has also: ■ Reached out to engage constituents, hosting a town hall in September with more than 60 alumni ■ Met with more than 50 local professionals through a weekly luncheon coordinated by Dean’s Advisory Council
Chair John Crossman, where she shares her vision with local law firms, including
Lowndes and Greenberg Traurig ■ Co-hosted, with the Student Bar Association, regular student town halls ■ Promoted social justice through her service on the Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion Task Force of the Orlando Economic Partnership ■ Served as a virtual panelist in September for “In Her Own Words … Perspectives from Women of Color,” hosted by
CREW, Commercial Real Estate Women ■ Served as a virtual panelist in October on “The Role of Historically Black Law
Schools” at the Black Lawyers Matter
Conference hosted by the University of
Houston Law Center and SMU Dedman
School of Law
“My plan for the College is for it to reach its potential as Florida’s only HBCU law school, one of only six in the country, and Central Florida’s public law school,” Keller said. “To do that, we must focus first on the success of our students. My plan is to be here at FAMU College of Law until we have achieved sustained success.”
