Journal of Legal Education (Association of American Law Schools)

Nelson, Ryan H.

Stein, Michael Ashley

English

Book Review of Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion and Equity in the Law School Classroom

Sunstein, Cass R.

Self-Silencing and Online Learning

Fishel, Sarah

DeMatteo, David

Wiltsie, Kellie

Certainly Uncertain: Facilitating Law Student Professional Growth and Well-Being Through Supervision in Light of COVID-19

Mogill, Michael A.

459
We Are...Community!
Michael A. Mogill
Just as COVID-19 first arrived in the United States, I gave a brief talk at a 
special event that was celebrated by our law school: the 185th anniversary of its 
founding. My remarks were centered on one of our school’s four core values, 
specifically that of “community.”1 As adopted by our faculty, “we pledge that on 
a daily basis we will strive to foster a sense of community and mutual support 
between and among faculty, students, and staff, and in our interactions outside 
the Law School.”2 The importance of this particular core value is reflected in 
the comment to it which explains that “we not only view community as a proper 
ethos but also believe that cultivating the personal skills, respect, and tolerance 
that promote community will enable our students to more professionally and 
sensitively counsel their clients and accomplish their professional goals.”3
As I first thought about this topic, I realized that this would not be as simple 
as going to dictionary.com and telling the audience that a “community” is “a 
social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics 
or interests or perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from 
the larger society in which it exists.”4 Instead, a certain song started playing in 
my head, and I recalled an inspirational comment by Coretta Scott King, who 
believed that “the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by 
the compassionate action of its community members.”5
This then got me to thinking of the multifaceted importance of that word 
“community” and what it really means to me. So I then let my mind drift (which 
sometimes happens all too often!) and a word cloud formed itself, because when 
I think of “community,” various descriptors appear:
Commonality, unity, connective, supportive, helpful, inspiring, giving, impactful, 
expansive, collaborative, empowering, caring, trusting, sharing, hopeful, safe, 
1. Mission Core and Principles Statement, Penn St. DickinSon L. (2022), https://dickinsonlaw.psu.
edu/mission.
2. Id.
3. Id.
4. Community, Dictionary.com (2022), https://www.dictionary.com/browse/community.
5. King’s Widow Urges Acts of Compassion, L.a. timeS (Jan. 17, 2000), https://www.latimes.com/
archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-17-mn-54832-story.html. 
Journal of Legal Education, Volume 70, Numbers 2 & 3 (Winter & Spring 2021)
Michael A. Mogill, Professor of Law, The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania 
State University; B.S. University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; J.D., Northeastern 
University of Law; LL.M. Temple University School of Law.
460 Journal of Legal Education
comforting, binding, fulfilling, cohesive, participatory, accepting, interactive, 
evolving, tangible, belonging, committed, responsible … and on and on.
And what do these descriptors mean to me as a professor, a colleague, and 
one engaged in the life of the academy? I believe that “community” is more 
than a singular buzzword, more than any dictionary definition—it is, instead, 
part of my belief system, in that:
1. Community means receiving fulfillment in living a life with a meaningful 
purpose by helping others.
2. Community means building relationships and bringing people together, so 
that all feel a sense of fellowship and are treated with dignity and respect.
3. Community means together fostering a safer and stronger environment, 
where everyone feels welcome and valued regardless of any differences 
they might have.
4. Community means providing support that we can rely upon, to over-
come trying times, to share our lives and ideas, to offer us love and 
encouragement.
5. Community means drawing strength and resilience from one another, 
reminding us that we do not have to go it alone, but that we can celebrate 
together.
6. Community means working together in a way that benefits everyone, 
with people interacting with one another peacefully and positively.
7. Community means allowing people to have a sense of caring, understand-
ing that we would welcome more of a connection to others.
8. Community means having the commitment and ability to work on col-
lective tasks and commons goals to better all around us.
9. Community means challenging one another in a supportive, nonhostile 
manner.
10. Community means fortifying members to accomplish goals that they 
could not have done in isolation.
11. Community means building sustainability, which takes time, trust, and 
creating relationships that matter.
12. Community means helping us find and express our identity, including 
our place in a constantly evolving and complex world.
13. Community means that we are people with real lives, real stories, real 
hopes, and real dreams, who seek a sense of belonging to something 
greater than ourselves.
14. And I believe, at the proverbial end of the day, that the meaning of com-
munity is most significant in offering us fundamental meaning in life, 
a true opportunity to have an impactful presence in knowing that we 
have truly affected others positively and contributed to the greater good.
461
So, yes, the word “community” is a type of catchall that evokes may different 
images, but it is one that goes beyond merely referring to a particular group 
or locale. And for those who gathered to celebrate our school’s founding, we 
certainly had a community, one with an interest and a purpose, consisting of 
those who gathered because they believed in a common mission and were pas-
sionate about the future of the law school and the greater profession. And I 
realized that the song that had been playing in my head, the 1980s anthem by 
Sister Sledge, We are Family,6 really did have a significance to my remarks, albeit 
with a slightly different theme—that the various descriptors and beliefs I have 
offered more strongly suggest that “We are . . . community”!
6. Sister Sledge—We Are Family Lyrics,  GeniuS  (2022), https://genius.com/
Sister-sledge-we-are-family-lyrics.
We Are...Community!


We Are...Community!

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The Virtual Law School, 2.0

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