 We continue our coverage here on what seems to be a peril day on the HBCU Digest with a really unique conversation With several wonderful sisters from the University of the District of Columbia the flagship of the nation's capital the flagship HBCU and joining us today the distinguished Dean of UDC School of Law Renee Hutchins Deanna Dorsey who is the owner proprietor of the District of Clothing and at a show lock and Toby UDC School of Laws Directive development. So this is a conversation about a really really dope collaboration between an apparel company and the School of Law and Deanna, I would start with you This is a clothing company. You start obviously as an entrepreneurial venture, but then you thought enough about UDC To look at ways that it can benefit that school of law that Institution talk about your journey in this in this entrepreneurial vein and how you came to To find an opportunity to work with UDC in an official capacity Yeah, thank you so much for having me today. I do have to correct you UDC law actually found me So I am blasted for the opportunity to work alongside them But it You know, it's it's honestly it started off as a cold email and it's just snowball to having us here with you today but I would have to say that Having the unique ability to collaborate with a University that's also HBCU that also provides legal services to the to the local community here in Washington, D.C. Um, I mean, why not, you know, if I can continue to give back in the most miniscule ways possible to support them in any way possible in their mission and to help Remove student debt. I mean, this is a win-win So let's talk about the the infrastructure of the out of shoulder. So this is this is something where Proceeds from t-shirts designed by the district of clothing, which are UDC branded To come back to the institution in support of scholarships and student support at the school of law, right? That's correct That's correct. So Every piece that's within the collection and this is our capsule collection every piece A portion of that will go back to our students And and how does that is it is it merit-based? Is it need-based or how does the the the construct of it work? It's need-based scholarships at the school of law Indeed you can speak to the importance of this because even though the the the school of law at UDC is Obviously the public law school for DC and has given wonderful opportunities To people of all walks of life across the city And it's somebody who grew up in the dnb. I can certainly appreciate what it what it really means to the city what what what what do you look at this partnership as At its core and as a foundation for similar things that could be done through the school to support The training of legal professionals in the district of columbia So Jared thank you for having us here today This is a really exciting opportunity to talk about the amazing work that the university is doing and that the law school is doing And about this really important partnership, right? So What we know is that talent is equally distributed across the population What we also know is that access to opportunity is not and so one of the things that the law school has Always been committed to doing is giving access to opportunity to talented students And one way we do that is by ensuring that they can afford to come law school is expensive, right? Like let's be real about it law school cost a lot of money It is a lot of years of investment And what we want to make sure is happening is that talented students aren't prevented from entering a legal education Because they don't have the money to do that and so when we were looking for ways to Not just increase fundraising, right? But also increase recognition of this amazing institution That is the people's law school, right? U. D. C. Is the district's high institution of higher education, right? So we're thinking of ways to increase the the the um Knowledge of that institution and the branding of that institution, right? We wanted to partner with somebody Who was as committed to the district as we are and district of clothing is that institution, right? We are about elevating up the voices of people of color We are about elevating up the voices of women and diona just she calculates all of that, right? So perfectly and so this partnership is about Access it is about information. It is about Holding up the voices of marginalized folks and and and so all of that just perfectly dovetails in terms of this partnership And I have to say i'm gonna give you a little shout out here on district of clothing I have to say the quality of their product Is superlative like it is excellent And as we think about providing excellence to our students across the entire array of services We provided them starting with a high quality legal education, right in the number six clinical law program in the country Running all the way to what are their sweatshirts look like? District of clothing hit the mark, right? It hit the mark in terms of quality Let's talk about that diona because that's an important that's an important point that the dean is making because There are many schools in the district of columbia Private and and obviously one public that we hold dear There are a number of communities. There are a number of Cross sections of students that you could have reached out to And maybe still can but you could have started with a number of groups of people you selected udc What is it about the udc brand that particularly resonates with you as an entrepreneur to say? I want to start with this community Helping this community not only just help keep students and graduate them in school law But this is a big brand that I think could resonate throughout the city Yeah, and and again just to be clear and udc law reached out to me. So again, I'm very grateful for that opportunity But I think it's um, you know, just what the dean was saying the ability I was half raised here in washington dc And so having the ability to give back to my hometown to an area and to a people who report so much into me Um, that's a blessing and that's what you know as a young black business woman That's all I want to do is to be able to share and to give back And help each other crying. I think specifically um I got, you know, very grateful and an emotional to hear the dean say some of those things because you know, it takes me back My grandfather didn't go past the sixth grade, but he he used apparel To help transcend whenever he would walk into a bank, you know When he was at church when he was walking down the street he used his apparel to help him transcend because it wasn't you know His where he was in that moment wasn't necessarily where he was going to go And so that is one of the Ledgepins just in terms of concepts that I hold dear to with district clothing um Helping people You know have pride within to encourage people toward action and toward progression and toward Having a deep self-love, but then also being able to let people know, you know, how you feel especially during this tumultuous beautiful chaotic time that we're in here in 2021 um, and I know as a I graduated a long time ago, but as an alumnus um of my institution I still wear those pieces that I got 10 15 years ago I can't fit all of them, but you know certain ones I can still fit the same hat, you know Those things really hold dear like when I when I look at my dad He still wears, you know certain hats and you know certain umbra like those things They they really mean something and so I think it's important that When you are speaking to black people when you are speaking to brown people when you are speaking to women When you are speaking to people who are typically underserved That you present them with the quality that you know that they possess within You present them with the quality that they you know that they can, you know reach and attain in the in the near future um, and that you show them um You know you you show them How you value them And we can do that through apparel. We can use apparel as a tool to help elevate people and so that's kind of um What the goal is and that's why I I really tried to use the best quality of of materials sustainable as well To help us be able to show people that we care about you. We care about your values and we care about your future DC is known for independent clothing companies When I was going up it was ddtp. That was huge when I was Makuna was my favorite. So I mean we this is this is part of that that tradition in the city Just like we have a tradition with our music we have a tradition with our food And so it aligns so perfectly with Udc and its mission and its identity in the city So when you think about the ways that You could use this as a as a development opportunity to reach donors to encourage people to give to the institution Even through buying apparel or just supporting scholarships How how much does this add to the profile when you're approaching people with resources to help? uh to keep students persist and through Uh the law school to get out and make a difference in dc. It adds a great deal We have a wonderful group of alumni students as well that want to wear their pride and it helps us keep um keep the udc law spirit alive with in each and every one of Our students as well as our alumni so that they're able to keep that word going out And it allows us to have an opportunity to go ahead and reach out to those people who have the resources To allow us to create scholarships, etc Dean, I would ask you, you know for everything wonderful that udc is um More wonderful things have happened in recent years Um, especially when you compare them to to previous generations or previous years um You have a president who is a lawyer by trade uh, you have a president who is unafraid to talk about social justice And and and the way that law plays into the into the the implementation of social justice or interpretation um all these things together and yet udc still Even for somebody like me feels like an underdog Is that is that a is that a fair assessment or are we kind of missing? so much about A school that is so unique with a law school a community college a four-year institution Are we missing something that's so unique and this is just an offshoot of that uniqueness about udc so I think that Describing it as an underdog is fair not because substantively it is an underdog, but because in messaging I don't know that the university has Historically done a tremendously good job of speaking out the incredible good work that is happening here um The the leadership team that is in place at the university now from president mason down is remarkable The commitment of the people inside these walls to elevating up Black and brown and underserved communities is remarkable um We have a choice to be anywhere that we want to be And we choose to be here Because we are committed to the students that are at this institution I say all the time that the students at udc law are my north star They are the reason that I get up early and go to bed late and work weekends Because all that we have to do is set them on the path and get out of their way And they don't like the world on fire And so it literally literally the the talent inside these walls is breathtaking And so my hope is right that that what you are starting to see Is the turn of a trend which we're starting to see is that we are going to do a better job of speaking out our excellence So that we stop being the underdog right and we start to become the only public land grant institution In an urban center that we start to become the only hbcu law school with a number six ranked clinical law program Right that we start to become an affordable access institution that produces excellence including, you know Accreditations at our business school our law school our our Undergraduate institution our engineering school right that that we really start to speak out the amazing talent That is inside these walls so that people stop asking And really are you an underdog right that people really start to understand that this is The district's public institution and we can meet our students from community education to professional school We can meet them wherever along that journey. They are so that we can maximize their potential So that they can recognize the excellence that resides within them. That's the goal And if I can just piggyback off of that, you know another tool that the apparel does is to show Other community members younger community members When they see it they also say oh, I can go there too, you know I see someone like me wearing something that interests me and it sort of piques their interest And then they they kind of follow it on social media Then maybe they google it then they're me, you know It's tiny little steps that we're using as tools to help make more people aware Of the law school in itself, but also the fact that they they belong there too And then let me round up with this question and I and I would ask you The dean and you diana What does it mean to have the school reach out to you for this partnership because a lot of times in our community, you know, there's Is a stereotype that it's hard to get an hbcu. It's hard to get, you know A big company of ours to partner with a a smaller entity or a a smaller, you know, entrepreneurial Project and that wasn't the case Udc was active about saying we want to get with a black woman-owned business And do this thing how much does it mean for you as an entrepreneur? And and and dean Hutchins, how much does it mean to you to be able to be in a position to identify talent like that and say We want to align with that diana. I'll start with you first It means everything, you know um It means everything You know, I'm I'm grateful. Um It is always a wonderful and a beautiful thing to be seen But to be seen by your people To be seen by, you know people who are in positions to help you rise up There's there's no word for that so I would I would only add girl. We see you Knock it out of the park. Um all day every day. We're about elevating up voices We don't just talk to talk. We walk the walk and we mean that Um, so girl, we see you. Thank you. This is this is part of a very long relationship I love your partnership really