Professor Sally Frank has spent her career championing equality, civil rights, and community advocacy. Her influence extends far beyond the classroom, and this year, two major recognitions underscored the impact of her contributions.
Princeton University recently honored Professor Frank by naming a campus cafe after her in tribute to her landmark sex-discrimination case against the university’s all-male eating clubs. Professor Frank began that fight at just 19 years old as an undergraduate student at Princeton. Thirteen years later, as a young professor at Drake Law School, she saw the case through to a win for herself and for greater gender equity on Princeton’s campus.
Closer to home, she was selected as a 2025 Woman of Influence by the DSM Business Record, recognizing her decades of leadership, mentorship, and advocacy in Iowa. Through her litigation guidance, community engagement, and deep commitment to her students, Professor Frank has helped generations of Drake lawyers understand not only the law, but the responsibility to use it for meaningful change.
As she prepares to retire at the end of this school year, Professor Frank reflected on her career, her recent honors, and the lessons she hopes her students will carry forward.
What do you enjoy about working with students?
What is really special about working with students in the clinic is watching them go from abject fear at the beginning of the semester when we hand them files to confidence in working with clients, opposing attorneys and Judges in less than 3 months. Then, as I keep practicing law in Polk Couty, I see my former students at court. Sometimes they are even opposing counsel. Then I take pride in seeing their work. For my Women and the Law seminar, I like it when students see and understand the biases that impact our laws. I also like to see how students improve their writing and analytic skills through their papers. Finally, for Women in the Hebrew Scriptures, I enjoy working with students exploring the biblical text and finding meaning in it. It is also neat when students who have never heard of midrash before taking the class write insightful papers in the form of Midrash.
What made Drake a place that you chose to stay at for so long?
Being able to continue to have contact with current and former students through practicing law. Also, I made a community for myself here in Des Moines.
What do you hope students will take away from your teaching?
In clinic, confidence in their abilities to practice law. They should also practice is a professional way showing courtesy to other lawyers, court personnel, and parties.
How do you feel about your recent honor from Princeton? How does this honor reflect your passion for justice?
I was extremely moved by Princeton honoring me. It seems ironic that the university chose to honor me essentially for having sued it, and to name a café after me when the suit was over eating clubs. Over the years, while the case was pending and since, I have worked hard to improve the school. I wanted them to see that the case was brought out of love of the University, not anger or hate. This honor shows that the University got the message. Throughout my life (at least from 5th grade on), I have been involved in social justice efforts. I feel that much of my work is required by the Jewish principle that humanity must work for tikkun olam (repair of the world). For me, I express that work through my activism seeking justice. The Princeton case was part of that work.