In Focus: Queen’s Law’s Asian and South Asian Clubs

Queen's Law students and alumni with retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci, keynote speaker, at the annual Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) conference in Toronto on November 7, 2009.

On November 7, 2009, 18 Queen’s Law students and recent graduates attended the annual Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) conference in Toronto, with the theme “Strength in Diversity.” Two Queen’s Law student clubs, the Society of Asians in Law (SAIL) and the South Asian Law Students’ Association (SALSA), were instrumental in organizing student attendance at this year’s conference. Both groups received funding from the Queen’s Law Education Equity Program in order to facilitate their members’ attendance.

The conference’s keynote speaker was retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci.
Justice Iacobucci, the son of Italian immigrants to Canada, entertained the crowd with anecdotes from his own life, including when he was told as a young man to avoid going into law on account of his “funny name,” which wouldn’t sit well with the traditional legal establishment.

“Attending the FACL conference was a great experience,” says SALSA’s President Rupa Karyampudi, Law ’11. “I got to meet lots of Asian and South Asian practitioners and hear them talk about their experiences. It was also good because issues about systemic discrimination in the field were discussed.”

SAIL and SALSA have long strived to provide Asian-Canadian Queen’s Law students with networking and professional development opportunities, while also organizing events celebrating Asian culture and heritage.

“We are planning to jointly host a conference with SALSA in March 2010,” says Anthea Cheung, Law ’10, SAIL’s Director of Operations. “We held a ‘Meet & Greet’ sushi dinner in October. In winter term, we are planning a Chinese New Year dinner. We are also planning to provide a seminar to our members about the available legal opportunities in Asia.”

SALSA hosted a Bollywood Film Night earlier in November. “Other events include a semi-formal in winter semester bringing together members of South Asian groups at Queen’s,” says Shalini Thomas, Law ‘12, SALSA’s Secretary. “We also plan a samosa sale and collaborating with the South Asian Bar Association to potentially procur a bursary open to application from SALSA members.”

For Anthea and Shalini, SAIL and SALSA played – and continues to play – an important role in their respective Queen’s Law experiences.

“SAIL has been a wonderful way to contribute to the sense of community that is so prevalent here at Queen’s Law,” Anthea says. “I am glad Queen’s is so committed to fostering a global community among its students through its support of our academic and extra-curricular pursuits.”

“I was thrilled to find that Queen’s Law had an active South Asian club,” said Shalini. “It’s great to have a group that is tied to the same cultural/ethnic background as yourself both for a sense of familiarity and also as an avenue to celebrate South Asian culture.”

Former LSS President and Law ’08 graduate Jeff Fung is currently one of two student directors on FACL’s board. He was first introduced to FACL as a SAIL member at Queen’s Law.

“I really enjoyed getting involved with a number of different extracurricular activities at Queen's Law,” Jeff says. “SAIL helped me to understand how diverse perspectives enrich the legal profession and how it is important for groups, whether they are based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, interest or specific causes, to add their voices to Canadian legal discourse.”

For more information on the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, please visit www.facl.ca. For more information on SAIL and SALSA at Queen’s Law, please visit their Facebook group pages. Further information on the joint SAIL/SALSA conference (planned for Friday, March 12, 2010) and guest speakers who will be attending will be available on those pages.