andré douglas pond cummings, JD
- Dean of Commonwealth Law School
- Professor of Law
- Arts & Culture
- Criminal Justice
- Race
- Social Justice
Affiliated Programs
Education
- J.D. (1997)
Howard University School of Law (Washington, D.C.) - B.S., Sociology (1994)
Brigham Young University (Utah)
About Me
Raised in Los Angeles, California and a product of the Los Angeles Unified School District, I learned early in life that inequality and discrimination were a distinct feature in the lives of many communities of color. My career has focused on disrupting inequality and bringing equal opportunity to those that have been historically oppressed.
Research Interests
- Investor Protection and Equal Economic Opportunity
- Social Justice and Criminal Legal System Reform
- Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as perpetuated by unequal legal systems
Media Expertise
- Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Law
- Corporate Law and Corporate Governance
- Entertainment Law
- Policing and Police Reform
- Progressive Prosecution
- Race and Social Justice
- Sports Law
- War on Drugs and Marijuana Law
Publications
- cuumings, a., & Ramirez, S. (Forthcoming, 2025). Ending the Racialized War on Drugs: Repairing Victimized Communities. Cambridge University Press.
- cummings, a., Clark, T., Conrad, C., & Johnson, A. (2023). Trauma Informed Policing: How Adverse Childhood Experiences Impact Police Officers. 73 CASE WESTERN RESERVE L. REV. 843.
- cummings, a., & Graham, K. (2023). Claim Denied, Access Denied: The Black Wall Street Insurance Grift. 35 ST. THOMAS L. REV. 101.
- cummings, a., & Ramirez, S. The Racist Roots of the War on Drugs. (2022). 44 UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK L. REV. 453.
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Mountain Society, West Virginia University
- Abolish Private Prisons, Board of Directors
Awards
- Alexander Award for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity, American Bar Association (2024)
- Faculty Excellence Award for Research & Scholarship, Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen Law (2024)
- Faculty Excellence Award for Public Service, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen Law (2024)
- Faculty Excellence Award for Social Justice, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen Law (2023)
News
In the Media
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2026 Ben J. Altheimer Symposium
- The National Jurist
Widener Law Commonwealth signs dual admissions agreement with YSU
Noteworthy
Widener Law Commonwealth Dean andré douglas pond cummings speaking at 'America at 250' event
Widener University Commonwealth Law School Dean and Professor of Law andré douglas pond cummings took part on June 10 in an online continuing legal education (CLE) program — "America at 250: The Power of Words – Rethinking the Declaration of Independence and the Fourteenth Amendment 2026."
The live webcast brought together legal scholars, historians, educators, and community leaders for a conversation that felt especially relevant, as the country inches toward the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The focus? The voices that history too often left out — and what America's founding ideals might have looked like if those perspectives had been part of the process from the start.
From the Declaration of Independence to the Fourteenth Amendment, participants dug into how these cornerstone documents are read today, and asked a harder question: how might they have been written differently?
It was a thoughtful, searching look at constitutional history, inclusion, and what equality in American law actually means, not just on paper, but in practice.
Dean cummings was joined by scholars and leaders from Penn State University, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and regional community organizations.