Shadaye Cousins joins the Faculty as Acting Assistant Dean (Admissions and Recruitment)

The Faculty of Law is delighted to welcome Shadaye Cousins, BCL/JD’22, to its administrative team as acting assistant dean (admissions and recruitment). She joins us for a one-year appointment, effective 30 January 2023.   

Cousins has more than a decade of experience in community engagement, leadership, advocacy, and working with marginalized groups. During her law studies, she worked as a student advocate at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill, and volunteered as a peer mentor. She served as student ambassador for the Faculty’s Law Education Connection (LEX) outreach program, inspiring at-risk minority youth to consider pursuing a legal education at McGill. In 2021, she was a legal research assistant for the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations. From 2016 to 2018, she worked in McGill’s Enrolment Services, where she advised students, alumni, and the public concerning admissions and university policies and procedures, supporting a range of student administrative needs.  

A graduate of our integrated BCL/JD program, Cousins also holds a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from McGill and a Master’s degree in criminology from the University of Toronto.  

Cousins will oversee the admissions process and student recruitment activities for the BCL/JD double-degree program, as well as manage the Admissions Office. She will work closely with Brittany Williams, assistant dean (students) and dean’s lead, Black and Indigenous flourishing, in advancing priorities relating to equity and inclusion, including the recruitment of Black and Indigenous candidates. 

“As a recent graduate of the Faculty, assuming this role in the Admissions Office – which was my first contact with McGill Law  – feels like a full-circle moment,” said Shadaye Cousins. “I am honoured to support the Faculty’s commitment to recruiting and admitting a student body as diverse as it is excellent, and to dismantling systemic barriers to legal education.”  

“We’re thrilled to welcome Shadaye Cousins back,” said Dean Robert Leckey, Ad E. “In concert with our Admissions Committee, she will play a key role in shaping the next cohort of our integrated program.”