"Representation matters, and I hope that this position will show others who come after me that people like myself belong in positions like Editor in Chief, too. There is always room for a "first", and I'm so happy I can be that for my school"
"As the first Latina to hold this position on this campus, I am so humbled and grateful to be able to serve as next year's Editor-in-Chief."

Rutgers Law Review has had 76 Editorial Boards.  27 of them have been led by women Editors in Chief.  Newark has had two Latina Editors in Chief.  And I, Nina Rodriguez, have been named the first Latina Editor in Chief of Rutgers Law Review-Camden.

The Rutgers University Law Review is the flagship law journal of Rutgers Law School and is a professional publication devoted to critical discussions of current legal problems. Issued five times a year, it includes lead articles by practitioners and scholars, as well as student contributions in the form of notes and case comments. Each year, the fourth issue of the Law Review is devoted to a survey of state constitutional law and the fifth issue is devoted to a symposium held at the Newark campus.

Each year, the Rutgers Law Review holds a write-on competition to select approximately 25 new members from a class of over 250 first year law students. Members are selected using a competitive process which took into account the applicant's first-year grades and performance on the write-on competition. The write-on competition required students to produce a high quality case comment using a packet of approximately two to three hundred pages of materials related to the case. The candidates had to complete all the requirements of the competition within 10 days.

I believe that my current work as a Staff Editor on Law Review this past year, along with the help and guidance of many senior editors, has definitely prepared me for my new role as Editor in Chief. As a Staff Editor, I am responsible for sourcing articles and "spading" citations before publication in the journal, and any law student knows how tedious "Bluebooking" can be! 

My favorite part about being on Rutgers Law Review is that I get to be a part of a much larger collaborative effort. Everyone on this journal is so supportive of one another, and we all hold each other respectfully accountable. Our collective ability to work together and get things done is why I think our journal is so successful!

I am currently a 2L at the Camden Campus, and after much hard work, I'm ready for my newest role here at Rutgers! I am the Vice President of Alianza, Secretary of Women's Law Caucus, and the Treasurer of Immigration Law Society. As a student representative for LexisNexis, I also volunteer regularly for the Bankruptcy and Mediation Pro Bono Projects on campus. This semester, I am teaching Constitutional Law to high school students at Urban Promise Academy in Camden, NJ through the school's Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Program. I am also a judicial extern for the Honorable Kay Walcott-Henderson, J.S.C., in Trenton, NJ, who I had the incredible opportunity of working with last summer as well.

As the first Latina to hold this position on this campus, I am so humbled and grateful to be able to serve as next year's Editor-in-Chief! Representation matters, and I hope that this position will show others who come after me that people like myself belong in positions like Editor in Chief, too. There is always room for a "first", and I'm so happy I can be that for my school!

Like my great-aunt used to always tell me, "Siempre puede hacer lo que tú propongas" ("You can always do whatever you set your mind to").

Look out for the 2021 edition of Rutgers Law Review!
 

Nina Rodriguez RLAW '21

Nina Rodriguez is a 2L at Rutgers Law School-Camden, graduating in May 2021. She is the Vice President of Alianza, Secretary of Women's Law Caucus, and Treasurer of Immigration Law Society, as well as the Editor in Chief of Rutgers Law Review. After graduation, Nina has plans to clerk at both the state and federal level.