“Being a law professor was never a career I thought I would have because there weren’t people who look like me. One of the things I’m proudest of is that I’ve been able to change that for other women,” says Tiffany Atkins ’03, a graduate of UNCG’s African American and African Diaspora Studies program (then called African American Studies).
When Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated to the United States Supreme Court in spring of 2022, Atkins wrote an opinion piece that went viral. In her article, “‘Clair Huxtable was my guiding light’: How Ketanji Brown Jackson will inspire a generation,” Atkins offered her perspective on Jackson’s historic nomination explaining the importance of seeing role models who can inspire you to succeed.
She explains that after facing an unjust workplace experience, she was inspired to become a lawyer. She found herself achieving her childhood dream of standing up for justice. Then an opportunity at UNCG changed her path. She was invited to teach a course about race and law.
“I fell in love with teaching,” Atkins says. “This is a new way I can make a difference – by teaching young people to become the next lawyer-leaders.”
Now Atkins is a leader inside and outside the classroom. In fall of 2022, she worked on an amicus brief in “Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina,” one of the first cases heard by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“Another word for an ‘amicus brief’ is a ‘friend’s brief,’” Atkins explains. “It’s really, ‘Court, we agree with this position. Let us tell you why.’”
By participating in this brief, Atkins kept a promise to herself that she would argue for the changes she wants to see in the world. Atkins tells her Elon University School of Law students they have a choice. “I tell them that the law is a powerful tool and their task is to figure out what kind of lawyers they want to be.”
By Mercer Bufter ’11 MA, Advancement Communications
Photography by Sean Norona ’12