Binary Thinking Preserves Diversity at Columbia Law School

Since 1991, our theoretical solution has found a practical use: diversifying law schools.  In 1995, the Dean of Minority Admissions at Columbia Law School (CLS) invited our founder, Eva Lana, to teach her rigorous approach at CLS.  While at CLS, Eva developed the first Casebook for the LSAT which united the pedagogy of law school with LSAT preparation.  Further research conducted at CLS under the guidance of Professor Kellis E Parker, lead to an even greater understanding of the relevance of the LSAT to law.  Thus, Binary Solution began to take its shape, not just as an LSAT course, but as an approach to legal reasoning.  These theoretical advances gave Binary students a competitive advantage in law school, as well as a way of getting into law school.  They also made Binary Solution a way of protecting diversity in a political climate that was turning hostile towards Affirmative Action.

The refinement of Binary Solution came at a time when anti-Affirmative Action cases were being filed against Law Schools: Hopwood v University of Texas Law School and its progeny threatened diversity in higher education. Binary Solution was a useful remedy because effective preparation changes the students, not the standards. The desire to get past the old dialogue gave rise to our research & scholarship initiative known as -- A to the Fourth: Anti-Anti Affirmative Action--a formula for getting past Affirmative Action through LSAT preparation.

A to the Fourth: Anti-Anti Affirmative Action,  means that we are against those who are against Affirmative Action, but not necessarily for it. Instead, we are optimistic about getting beyond the need for Affirmative Action, and remain neither opposed nor beholden to it.  Every LSAT point gained by a diverse student takes us one step further from the need for Affirmative Action, and makes our LSAT course a positive way to achieve legitimate social goals.

In 1997 we partnered with NYU's CMEP (Center for Multicultural Education and Programs--formerly OASIS) to establish a scholarship program for all of its students.    In 2001, the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) chartered our mission to diversify law schools. In 2006, CUNY Law School contracted Binary as the sole provider for its Pipeline to Justice Program. In 2007, NJCU began to officially offer Binary Solution through its Office of Continuing Education with scholarships for all of its students.

We know that test scores are malleable and that LSAT preparation can change lives.  Every day we prove these beliefs by raising the scores of our diverse student body. Through our work we hope to demonstrate that there is room for a new position within the Affirmative Action dialogue. Through technology we hope to achieve the goal of total access as a means of preserving diversity in academia.

COMING SOON... interviews with the first group of Columbia students who took the Binary Solution