For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Iowa College of Law has earned an A+ ranking in human rights law from preLaw magazine, solidifying its place among the top thirteen law schools in the nation in this field.

preLaw, a widely read resource for prospective law students, evaluated law schools on their human rights offerings, including clinical programs, certificates, externships, partnerships, and coursework. The results are featured in the magazine’s Back to School 2024 issue.

The centerpiece for Iowa Law’s leadership in human rights is the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR), which proudly celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The Center’s origins date back to 1998, when Iowa Law Professor Burns Weston spearheaded Global Focus: Human Rights ’98, a yearlong campus initiative featuring lectures from four Nobel Laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“When the Global Focus ’98 Committee met for the last time, it became clear no one wanted to put out the fire that had begun with Weston’s ambitious plan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” recalls Gina Crosheck, a member of the Center’s advisory board. This passion laid the foundation for UICHR, officially established in 1999. Since its inception, the Center has become a cornerstone for education, scholarship, and public engagement, both locally and globally. In 2013, it officially became unit of the College of Law.

For over a dozen years, the Center’s teaching mission has flourished through its undergraduate Certificate in Human Rights, which recently reached a record enrollment of 82 students. For law students, human rights courses are integral to the JD curriculum, and offerings will expand further in Spring 2025 with the arrival of Professor Hope Metcalf as a clinical professor.

Professor Metcalf, a leading human rights scholar, joins Iowa Law after more than 15 years at Yale Law School, where she served as the executive director of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights Law and co-taught in the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic. “Iowa’s human rights program is a hidden treasure. For more than 25 years, UICHR has educated generations of students on the role of human rights in Iowa, the United States, and the global community. I’m thrilled to join this endeavor,” says Metcalf.

UICHR looks forward to the many contributions Professor Metcalf will bring to its programs and initiatives. Her extensive experience and passion for human rights make her an invaluable addition to the team. “We are excited to have Professor Metcalf join the College and the Center. Law students will benefit tremendously by having experiential human rights opportunities,” says the Center’s director, Associate Dean Adrien Wing. “This addition strengthens us as we look to build on a quarter century of high impact human rights work.”

Beyond its teaching initiatives, the UICHR is also a catalyst for research and scholarship. Early projects, such as a federally funded child labor initiative, set the bar high for impactful work. More recently, research assistants have tackled pressing international issues, including the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, while the Center continues to host academic conferences like the annual Iowa Human Rights Research Conference. The 2024 conference, held at the Boyd Law Building, drew over 125 attendees from across the state.

Under the guidance of Associate Dean Adrien Wing and a dedicated team of six staff members, including Iowa Law alumni Professors Brian Farrell (98JD) and Amy Weismann (00JD), the UICHR continues to be an essential resource for advancing human rights education at the local, national, and international levels.

Explore the full issue of preLaw magazine to learn more about human rights law rankings (see page 43).