Losing to Win鈥�Luis Rovira '50 and a Legal Historic Moment
The lives and accomplishments of our alumni fill me with profound inspiration. It is a feeling rivaled only by the hopefulness I experience interacting with our outstanding law students, faculty, and staff. Today I invite you to join me in being inspired by an exceptional member of the University of Colorado Law School Class of 1950.
Luis Dario Rovira was born on September 8, 1923, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A graduate of the University of Colorado鈥檚 undergraduate and law schools, he became the first Latino to serve on a state supreme court in the United States when he was appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court in 1979. He subsequently became the first Latino chief justice of a state supreme court. During his tenure on the Colorado Court, Justice Rovira participated in a number of noteworthy cases and is perhaps best known for authoring the Opinion of the Court in Evans v. Romer, finding that Colorado鈥檚 Amendment 2, which prohibited the state and municipalities from passing legislation to protect gay people, infringed on plaintiffs' rights in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. October 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the Colorado Supreme Court decision. The state court decision was subsequently appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and affirmed in Romer v. Evans, and thereby became the first case in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violated constitutionally protected rights.
Much of Justice Rovira鈥檚 acclaim comes from his work in Evans v. Romer. However, this widely known legal historic victory was preceded by a much less known, yet highly impactful legal historic moment鈥攁 past legal occurrence, whether tragic or triumphant, that helps us to create broader social norms that can shape our legal present and our legal future鈥攖hat occurred when Justice Rovira was a law student, decades before he rose to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In 1950, then-law student Rovira initiated legal proceedings against a barber shop in Boulder, Colorado, which had refused service to Edward Johnson, a Black graduate student. Although Rovira did not prevail in the lawsuit, the case had significant repercussions. Students from the University of Colorado, along with other members of the Boulder community, organized a boycott against the discriminatory barber shop. This collective action eventually compelled the barbers to amend their policies and serve all customers, irrespective of race. And arguably, Rovira鈥檚 lawsuit was one of the first structural cracks in Boulder鈥檚 then-pervasive practices of anti-Black racial exclusion.
Justice Rovira famously said, looking back at the Boulder barber shop case and its aftermath, that it was an example of 鈥渓osing to win.鈥� This short phrase captures the notion that immediate setbacks can lay the groundwork for more substantial, long-term progress by sparking change in public opinion, political landscapes, and ultimately, legal and social frameworks.
Justice Rovira鈥檚 efforts to combat inequity while still a law student with his own immediate concerns are a reminder that whether you are beginning your first year at Colorado Law, or are a graduate of many years, your work as legal advocates grows from your larger identity as citizen advocates鈥攔aising awareness of important issues, representing those whose voices are unheard, and helping communities to become more equitable, inclusive and responsive to the needs of all.
Together, we are shaping our legal present and our legal future every day, and I am proud to strive鈥攕ide by side with you鈥攊n this noble endeavor
Lolita Buckner Inniss
Dean and Provost's Professor of Law