Ok, I'll bite on addressing the assault on UVA (this will be the last time I engage on something so off-topic Nony, I promise), because I think it's an important one (although I'm fully aware that none of this will be satisfying to URMSenator). The environment at UVA and Charlottesville generally is struggling with this very issue, and it is a real one. The rallies happened this summer, and anyone here who is honest with themselves knows that those issues are inextricably tied to the university, its history, and the population surrounding the city. No one can or would dismiss that the rallies and the white supremacist movement focusing on Charlottesville are troubling and worthy of pause for any URM in picking a law school. I would never minimize what those events were, and I won't even go so far as to say "but those were outsiders, not students from UVA" because that's really unfair and wrong. It's a part of the UVA community, and it's a shame for this community and the greater nation at large. I can't speak with any amount of knowledge or experience as a URM at UVA, so you're right that I can't speak to that experience, but what I can say is that the student body isn't struggling with it because we don't want to address it. While Cville will continue to deal with this identity, UVA Law also has been centrally involved in spearheading efforts to figure out what to make of these events, how to address it for minority students at the university, and what the institution needs to do in light of those events. And while those events were traumatic for everyone, and particularly minorities, there is a ton of diversity at the school to be proud of, to include nationally award-winning chapter of BLSA, an active and engaged Lambda community, and pretty robust affinity groups of every minority group, and an administration that is hyper-focused on creating a diverse and inclusive community. The current dean is heading the university-wide committee to address the concerns of minority students in the aftermath of the rallies, and has taken great care to identify systemic issues of racism and discrimination and in the institution. Systemic issues of discrimination are insanely tricky to completely fix, as they are so insidiously hard to define and eliminate, so it will be a continuous and on-going process. But it is at the forefront of the minds of the administration, I promise you.
Back to your slightly less off-topic point about the Minneapolis market. First, it's insanely stupid to compare Minneapolis to NYC and DC for a number of reasons. The sheer number of jobs in those markets dwarfs Minneapolis, so obviously going to a school that places well in NYC or DC would give more opportunities for a minority applicant, but that says nothing of how "good" the Minneapolis market is for a minority student who actually wants to work in Minneapolis. Most (I would say all, but I can't say that with complete confidence) of the major firms in Minneapolis participate in the Minnesota Minority Recruiting Conference, and while I can't guarantee they'll all hire out of the conference from year to year, there is a genuine desire to hire qualified minority candidates. Diverse hiring is genuinely embraced in the Minneapolis market, and while there are less opportunities for a diverse candidate relative to larger markets, I would caution to say that Minneapolis isn't a good market for minority hiring. You could make an argument for similarly sized markets that have a larger diverse population having more opportunities for minorities than Minneapolis (Detroit, St. Louis, etc.), but I've never seen any statistics to actually support that.
diversity in the legal profession generally is a problem that is pretty well-identified, if not actually fully addressed, but that's not unique to Minneapolis either.
Ok, I'm done because this is pretty ridiculous off-topic, considering this was entirely about the UMN, not any of the stuff I just addressed. I promise to not engage you on this any further.