September 2007 marked the launch of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice as well as the 10th anniversary of the Crowley Program in International Human Rights. Professors Martin Flaherty and Tracy Higgins founded the program in 1997, creating what remains an unique fieldwork-centered model of human rights scholarship and education. Since that time, the program has trained scores of students, sponsored well over one hundred events, including many panels, film screenings, conferences, and symposia, and greatly expanded opportunities for students to work in the field of human rights.

The new Leitner Center, named in recognition of the Leitner family, houses the Crowley Program as well as many new initiatives. The mission of the Leitner Center is to contribute to the promotion of social justice around the world by encouraging knowledge of and respect for international law and international human rights standards in particular. The Center furthers this goal by sponsoring education, scholarship, and human rights advocacy, and facilitating collaboration among law students, scholars, and human rights defenders in the United States and abroad.