Students kicked off a week-long celebration of diversity in the legal profession on March 2 with a reception for Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rudy Garcia.

Garcia, who in January became the association’s first Hispanic chancellor, discussed the organization’s strong and growing commitment to promoting diversity in the bar and ensuring that all sectors of the profession feel supported.

As part of that commitment, the association will this year convert its Minorities in the Profession Committee into a forum for collaboration with and among the city’s minority bar associations.

The association will honor U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at its quarterly meeting on March 11, which students and faculty will attend.

The chancellor gratefully acknowledged the support of the law school, which provides each student with a membership in the association. He also encouraged the students to make use of the association’s resources and to build relationships with its many members.

The reception, the start of the school’s first Diversity Awareness Week, was organized by the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, the Black Law Students Association, the Jewish Law Students Association, the Latin American Law Student Association, the Middle Eastern Law Students Association, the Multicultural Law Students Association and OUTLAW.