Stetson University College of Law hosted a public lecture on the “Role of Courts in Promoting Biodiversity” on March 30 in the Great Hall at Stetson law school.
Judge Anthony Lucky presented the Foreman Biodiversity Lecture.
Judge Anthony Lucky of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea presented the complimentary Foreman Biodiversity Lecture, held in conjunction with the International Finals of Stetson’s International Environmental Moot Court Competition, now in its 21st year.
This year’s competition brings international student teams from Africa, East Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, Ireland, India, Latin America, North America and Southeast Asia to compete at Stetson on the issue of ocean fertilization and marine biodiversity.
“Our future is in the oceans and therefore our future comes from protecting the oceans,” said Judge Lucky. “Everything flows into the ocean.”
Stetson’s Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series is coordinated through the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, which is the recipient of the 2016 American Bar Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Environmental Law and Policy.
Stetson Law students made cards of encouragement to donate during Women’s Week. The cards were given to Alpha House, an organization which provides housing and supportive services to homeless pregnant women and teens, new mothers with infants, and families experiencing crisis pregnancies.
Stetson law school launched its first annual Women’s Week celebration during the week of March 13, with a pro bono event, performance/fundraiser, panel with area leaders on the Gulfport campus, and a career networking event in downtown St. Petersburg.
Seventy-three cards were decorated for donation to Alpha House during Women’s Week at Stetson Law.
The celebration kicked off with a pro bono event on March 13 to benefit Alpha House, a local shelter for homeless pregnant women and mothers. Students earned one hour of nonlegal pro bono for decorating cards of encouragement and donating personal care items for women at Alpha House.
On March 14, students and faculty performed the Vagina Monologues as part of a fundraiser for the Community Action Stops Abuse (CASA) organization.
“I’ve been volunteering with the Vagina Monologues for the past three years, and I always feel so empowered after every show,” said student Adriana Foreman.
Panelists presented in the Mann Lounge on tools to use to tackle gender bias. (L-R): Judge Pamela Campbell, attorneys Kristina Feher, Shavarne Dhalquist and Katherine Earle Yanes.
The evening of March 15, more than 30 students and local attorneys attended “Tools for Tackling Gender Bias.” A dynamic panel of distinguished female attorneys and a judge candidly discussed techniques young attorneys can can use to overcome gender barriers in the workplace. Students Natalie Yello, the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Law Student Division president and Stetson’s Ms. JD Fellow, and Chloe Wells, Florida Association of Women Lawyers at Stetson president, introduced the panel, moderated by Joann Grages Burnett, associate director of career development. Judge Pamela Campbell, along with attorneys Kristina Feher, Shavarne Dhalquist and Katherine Earle Yanes presented. Yello and Wells were inspired to create Stetson’s first Women’s Week event after reading the results of the 2015 Young Lawyers Division Survey on Women in the Legal Profession.
Students and faculty performed the Vagina Monologues as part of Women’s Week. (L-R): Kristina Hartman, Carolina Sauzo, Cymoril White, Courtney Olivier, Adriana Foreman, and Erica Ramos.
“With International Women’s Day falling during our Spring Break, we wanted to make sure that Stetson had the opportunity to celebrate this important day,” said Yello. “We wanted to hold a week of events that would empower not just our students, but the entire community.”
Women’s Week concluded with a final celebration at the Hangar Restaurant in downtown St. Petersburg which included attorneys, networking, delicious food and drinks.
Students gather at Stetson’s first Women’s Week networking event. L-R Stephanie Mas (1L), Christina Z. Pacheco, Esq., Office of the Attorney General, Lauren Stagner (1L). Photo courtesy Chloe Wells.
Throughout the week, attendees were provided with an opportunity to sign letters of support for House Bill 319, proposed legislation designed to close the pervasive gender pay gap in Florida.
Women’s Week was sponsored by the Florida Association for Women Lawyers at Stetson (FAWLS), the Stetson Chapter of the Florida Bar YLD Law Student Division, Stetson Student Bar Association Diversity Committee, National Organization of Women, Food Law Society, and the Stetson Student Bar Association Alumni Relations Committee.
Students hold their personalized cards in front of the items collected during Women’s Week for donation to Alpha House.
Internationally known human rights activist John Prendergast presented on “Stopping Genocide by Stopping the War Profiteers” on March 16 in the Great Hall on Stetson law school’s Gulfport campus.
John Prendergast spoke at Stetson on genocide.Prendergast addressed a crowd gathered to hear him talk in the Great Hall on Stetson’s campus.
Prendergast, author of Not on Our Watch, co-author with Michael Mattocks of Unlikely Brothers, and founder of the Enough Project, discussed the genocide which began in Darfur, Western Sudan, in 2003, that continues today.
The program was part of the Florida Holocaust Museum’s Genocide and Human Rights Awareness Movement 25th anniversary lecture series by Bank of America in partnership with the Social Justice Advocacy Certificate of Concentration Program at Stetson.
Stetson University College of Law celebrated Diversity Week in honor of the American Bar Association’s Diversity Day with a series of events designed to provoke discussions about how to improve diversity and inclusion on the law school campus, as well as how to address implicit bias in the legal profession.
Students led the discussion during the “Black in America” event on the Gulfport campus. Photo by Brielle Tucker.Associate Dean Darryl C. Wilson talked with students during the presentation on “Shades of Grey: Colorblind Jurisprudence” on March 2 in the Great Hall. Photo by Brielle Tucker.
At Stetson, organizations partnered to host interactive discussions, questions of the day, and panels. Events included the March 1 “Black in America” event sponsored by the Black Law Students Association. This event featured student-led discussions on various topics impacting the black community, from incarceration to misappropriation.
Throughout the week, students were asked questions by the Diversity Committee on the significance of diversity on campus, or how diversity can be improved on campus. Students were also encouraged to participate in the Implicit Bias Survey conducted by Harvard Law.
The week continued with the March 2 event, “Shades of Grey: Colorblind Jurisprudence,” co-sponsored by the Hispanic Bar Association, Black Law Students Association, and Pillars. Students participating in the event were asked to assume an identity drawn through a lottery and answer questions about the appropriateness of colorblind theories, color-conscious practices, and the impact of implicit bias.
“Colorblind jurisprudence refers to the developing interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause as applied to the Civil Rights Act of 1954 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This constitutional application of colorblindness became popularized during the nineties, and was widely debated as the U.S. Supreme Court began to redefine equal protection in affirmative action practices,” said student Alexis N. Turner Garris, whose research conducted during Professor Judith Scully’s course on Race and American Law was central to the presentation.
“I hope that those in attendance left feeling empowered to engage their peers in discussions regarding race,” said Garris. “But, I really hope that my peers feel a sense of relief knowing that they are not the only ones confused by the stark contrast between the Supreme Court’s theoretical, colorblind approach to racial issues, and the color-conscious approach taken within the criminal justice system and our everyday life.”
The week wrapped up with a student discussion entitled, “Implicit Bias and Diversity: From the Personal to the Professional.” The event centered around understanding how implicit bias may affect the legal profession.
Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport is hosting a screening of the documentary film Foster Shock followed by a panel discussion on March 29.
WHO: The Child Advocates of Stetson Law student organization is partnering with the Guardian ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay to present an event to help people learn more about challenges facing youth in group homes in the Florida foster care system.
WHAT: Members of the public are welcome to attend a complimentary screening of the film, Foster Shock, on campus, followed by a panel presentation featuring former foster children on what it is like to grow up in the foster system. The documentary gives viewers a close-up look at Florida’s foster care system through the eyes of traumatized children who suffered abuse and neglect and asks whether privatizing the system has helped protect our most vulnerable population.
WHEN: The program begins with dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by a one-hour film at 6 p.m. and a panel directly following the film.
WHERE: The program takes place in the Great Hall at Stetson law school’s Gulfport campus, 1401 61st St. S.
For more information, contact Taylor Greenberg, student president of the Child Advocates of Stetson Law at [email protected]. RSVP http://bit.ly/2mU7b0C.
By Carmen Johnson, Assistant Director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives
Stetson University College of Law recently hosted the 15th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Youth Pre-Law Conference on Feb. 24 at the Tampa Law Center. This year, students from Thomas Jefferson High School’s Law and Criminal Justice Academy attended the event. Held annually in partnership with the Law School Admission Counsel’s (LSAC) DiscoverLaw.org since 2002, the mission of the daylong conference is to promote opportunities for legal education and careers among local high school and community college students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Stetson Law alumni Javier Centonzio, Cornelius Demps, Adrian Burden, Keh’ara Hendrieth and Bridgette Lester spoke with high school students on Feb. 24 about the legal system. Photo courtesy Carmen Johnson.Conference speakers Keh’ara Hendrieth and Bridgette Lester spoke one-on-one with high school students during the conference. Photo courtesy Carmen Johnson.
In addition to engaging with Stetson Law students, administrators and alumni at the Tampa Law Center, the Jefferson High participants attended interactive sessions that highlighted how to prepare for college and law school, become financially aware for college and beyond, confidently network in professional settings, and use DiscoverLaw.org as a resource to explore their interests.
The students also engaged in a full mock trial under the instruction and guidance of Stetson Law alumni. The alumni volunteers included Adrian Burden J.D. ’10, an assistant public defender with the Sixth Judicial Circuit; Javier Centonzio J.D. ’12, LL.M. ’14 of Weylie Centonzio, PLLC; Cornelius Demps J.D. ’10, an assistant attorney general in Tampa; Keh’ara Hendrieth J.D. ’11, also an assistant attorney general in Tampa; and Bridgette Lester J.D. ’10 of Trevana, Pontrello & Associates.
This week, Stetson law school is hosting a series of events spearheaded by student organizations for Diversity Week including a presentation on “Being Black in America,” “Shades of Grey: Colorblind Jurisprudence and Color-Conscious Practices,” and a “Black History Gala.”
Stetson University Associate Professor of Chemistry Song Gao, Ph.D., discussed the impacts of global climate change with the College of Law community and members of the public on Feb. 27.
Dr. Song Gao presented the Biodiversity Lecture at Stetson. Photo by Alan Brock.
Dr. Song Gao presented on “Atmospheric Aerosols, Super Greenhouse Gases, Global Climate Change: Where Science Meets Policy” as part of Stetson’s Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series.
“I think the take home message is that the earth’s atmospheric temperature has been rising rapidly, especially in the last three to four decades, and that is primarily due to the emissions of greenhouse gases by humans. The projection is that in the future the climate will continue to warm,” said Dr. Gao. “I think we’re at a critical moment. When science and policy truly meet, we can come up with science-based, forward-looking solutions to mitigate climate change. The Montreal Protocol has set a beautiful example that collectively, we can do something positive to the environment: mitigating the ozone hole based on ozone chemistry mechanisms. Hopefully, we can come up with wise solutions to mitigate the ongoing climate change by limiting the emissions of both short-lived climate forcers, such as HFCs, which the Kigali Amendment is starting to regulate, and long-lived climate forcers, such as CO2.
The Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson regularly coordinates a series of public lectures on environmental law and policy topics impacting people locally and globally. The next lecture in the series is scheduled for noon on March 30 in the Great Hall at Stetson law school’s Gulfport campus.
Stetson University College of Law students and alumni celebrated student scholarship recipients with a softball game in Hoyt Field in Gulfport on Feb. 11.
Students and alumni gather after the scholarship softball game for a photo. The alumni won the game. Photo courtesy Marissa Marchena.(L-R): Bill Loughery J.D. ’84, student scholarship recipients Miles Hickman and Marissa Marchena and Jeff Adams J.D. ’84. Photo courtesy Marissa Marchena.
A reception followed the game on Saturday night, honoring student scholarship recipients Marissa Marchena and Miles Hickman who received the Nenezian-Jones-Cooley Scholarship.
A committee established the scholarship in honor of the scholarship’s namesakes Rich Nenezian J.D. ’84, Jim Jones J.D. ’84, and Pete Cooley J.D. ’84, Stetson Law alumni.
Nenezian and Jones died young in their 40s, and Cooley passed away last year. Cooley worked with Bill Loughery J.D. ’84, Jeff Adams J.D. ’84, and other alumni to establish the scholarship.
Stetson law classmates, friends and family memorialized Nenezian, Jones and Cooley with this special scholarship for students who demonstrate a passion for balancing the rigors of academic work with extracurricular activities and intramural sports.
What are the skills employers look for when hiring law school graduates? What skills would you improve? Social scientist and education expert Dr. Terrell L. Strayhorn asked a roomful of approximately 100 first and second-year law students on Stetson’s Gulfport campus to develop some ideas to help prepare for their future careers.
Dr. Terrell Strayhorn delivered the keynote address at Stetson’s Intention and Impact Summit.
Dr. Strayhorn’s keynote address at Stetson’s daylong Intention and Impact Summit on Jan. 27 introduced ways that law students can achieve personal success in the classroom and in their careers.
He described his own personal experience as a student working on his master’s in law school at The Ohio State University, and the importance of finding support and community in achieving success.
Dr. Strayhorn described why it is important for law students to develop intercultural competence and see connections. He said that the skills that employers want belong to graduates who see connections across many areas of law.
“The lawyer of the future has to be able to see across all of these,” said Strayhorn.
He also discussed how students can prepare the skills they need for the less technical, more human or social aspects of their careers and spoke on the value of being persuasive.
“Effective lawyers are people who are good storytellers,” said Strayhorn.
Dr. Strayhorn spoke with students at Stetson Law school.
Strayhorn is a professor and director of the Center for Higher Education Enterprise at The Ohio State University. A renowned student success scholar, highly acclaimed public speaker, and award-winning writer, Strayhorn is the author of 10 books, more than 60 book chapters and 150 journal articles and conference papers, and many other scholarly publications.
Sessions throughout the summit were designed to help students chart their law school path and to explore the many ways to find success as a law student, both inside and outside of the classroom.
A committee of Stetson law school staff and faculty designed and presented on topics ranging from time management and storytelling, to virtual communication and self-promotion, to legal research and learning abroad at Stetson’s daylong summit.
JR Swanegan, assistant dean for international programs, and Tammy Briant, assistant dean for student affairs, introduced the program. Dr. Strayhorn also spoke with staff during his visit to Stetson’s Gulfport campus.
“The flag flew over the tower when I was here,” Oliver “Buzz” Baudoin remarked as he leafed through yearbooks and photographs from the Florida Military Academy on display in Stetson law school’s Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library archives on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. “It was my job to take that flag up and down.”
FMA graduate Oliver Baudoin poses with an award he received for sharp shooter, and the Florida Military Academy flag, in the law library at Stetson.
Baudoin, who graduated from the Florida Military Academy in 1947 and later served in the military, found his photograph in the FMA yearbook, a handsome young dark-haired cadet. He pointed to a photograph of Babe Ruth from 1938, who came to visit Florida Military Academy.
The FMA was located at the Stetson law school campus from 1932-1952. Before FMA took over the property, it was home to the Rolyat Hotel, a sweeping, elegant Mediterranean compound that hosted celebrity guests like Babe Ruth. According to a St. Petersburg Times article, FMA alumni include the sons of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Hugo and Sterling Black; son of playwright Eugene O’Neill, Shane O’Neill; and All-Star third baseman Al Rosen.
“I remember running laps around the bullring,” Baudoin said, pointing to the tiled round fountain in the Plaza Mayor courtyard.
The Great Hall, today used to host large lectures, dinners and special events at Stetson law school, was once the mess hall where cadets dined during the FMA years. It was Baudoin’s job to make sure anyone who broke an expensive plate in the mess hall had to pay for it.
Stetson staff member Jeff Palmieri, Florida Military Academy alumnus Oliver Baudoin and family friend Sonia Bourgeois visit the FMA archives at Stetson Law.
A 1946 FMA graduate, Lawrence Barrett, created an exhibit of memorabilia in the Great Hall on the Stetson law school campus, which included photographs, newspaper clippings and uniforms, and a chapel bench.
Today’s Florida Military Academy Collection is a museum-quality exhibit of donations on the third floor and a special archive room housed in the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library. Stetson archive coordinator Kristen Fiato provided the exhibit and archive room tour.
Ten students at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, participated in a class designed to assist the 2014 Clemency Project. One of the 1300 clemency grants out of a total of 16,000 petitions was prepared by Stetson Law students in the class.
Professor Podgor’s Clemency Class: – Top row from left to right – Allyson Holca, Starcee Brown, Dan Diaco, Daniel Chehouri, Robert Glenn; Bottom row from left to right – Professor Ellen S. Podgor, Federal Defender Donna Elm, Jennifer Wilson, Juliann Welch and Dean Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz. Other members of the class not included in this picture here are: Nathan Bruemmer, Victor Meza, and Monica Strady.
“The very fact that you, as a student, may be one of the last remaining hopes for an individual to have his life sentence reduced is an incredible burden, however, it is an honor to be given that responsibility,” student Victor Meza J.D. ’16 said after completing the class. “It was by far the most practical course I had at Stetson Law.”
Stetson’s Gary R. Trombley Family White-Collar Crime Research Professor Ellen S. Podgor and Federal Defender Donna Elm created the class in the fall of 2015.
Jennifer Wilson J.D./LL.M. in Advocacy ’16, was a student in Stetson’s part-time law program who worked with the legislature before heading to law school. She said that taking the class taught her firsthand how the legislative changes in federal sentencing guidelines impacted people and revealed the realities of disparate treatment in sentencing policies.
“It’s a unique kind of advocacy,” said Wilson. “You’re arguing fairness, and trying to convince a decision-maker that the law is different today, sentencing guidelines have changed, and that should be considered.”
In addition to receiving a crash course in clemency and learning how to write drafts of petitions, the Stetson students had an opportunity to work in-depth on cases with Elm, the lead federal public defender for the Middle District of Florida.
“I really learned the client’s story,” said Wilson. “Telling the story more effectively was just as important as knowing the law.”
Students learned how federal sentences are given as well as techniques used to revisit sentences.
“Following the class, students assisted other attorneys and the federal defender’s office with petitions, and some of these clemency petitions were granted by former President Obama,” said Professor Podgor.
After the class concluded, student Juliann Welch worked on a petition that was granted.
Practicing plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Diaco J.D. ’16 said that he realized that he had a unique skillset after completing the class. He drafted two clemency grants after taking the class, one for a man sentenced to life in prison and one for a person sentenced to 20 years.
“For 25 years, I’ve saved lives as a doctor, but I never saved a life with a pen,” said Diaco, who had the opportunity to call one of the clients in person to share the good news. “I never dreamed I would be able to save a life this way and get so much gratification.”
Several Stetson Law alumni also had successful clemency cases, including Brandon Breslow J.D. ’16, Theresa N. Jean-Pierre Coy J.D. ’04, Dominique Heller J.D. ’07 whose firm had three successful clemency cases, Adam LaBonte J.D. ’13, Brian Tannebaum J.D. ’94, Katherine Earle Yanes J.D. ’97 who received more than 44 clemency grants, and Rachel May Zysk J.D. ’04.
The 2014 Clemency Project was created in light of former President Barack Obama’s initiative to review the sentences of federal prisoners who were given lengthy sentences for non-violent offenses. The criteria for clemency included prisoners who had served 10 years or more in prison, were convicted of non-violent crimes, and if sentenced today, their sentences would be substantially lower.
(L-R): Professor Royal Gardner with Jaclyn Lopez, who presented the Edward and Bonnie Foreman Biodiversity Lecture.
Stetson University College of Law’s spring semester Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series kicked off on the Gulfport campus on Jan. 24 with a lecture by Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Close to 100 people attended Lopez’ talk on “Florida’s Frightening Phosphate Problem” in the Great Hall.
Lopez described how Florida is home to the world’s largest phosphate mine, and the hazardous bi-product of one billion tons of radioactive phosphogypsum. She discussed the phosphate industry’s impact on the landscape, altering waterways and destroying habitat.
“The most important thing to remember about phosphate mining and fertilizer production is that it leaves a lasting legacy in Florida that’s not a pretty one,” said Lopez. “We’ve already lost hundreds of thousands of acres to the industry. We now have to store over a billion tons of radioactive hazardous waste and that problem is only going to continue to grow as we authorize additional mining. Now is the time to draw the line in the sand and say not one more inch.”
Lopez is a native Floridian, who coordinates campaigns in the Southeast and Caribbean to protect imperiled species and ecosystems. She has taught courses on environmental law and has presented and written on Endangered Species Act issues.
Upcoming lectures in this series are complimentary in the Great Hall on Stetson’s Gulfport campus at 1401 61st St. S. and include:
Feb. 27, 12 p.m., Dr. Song Gao of Stetson University and
March 30, 12 p.m., Judge Anthony Lucky of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Stetson’s Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series is coordinated through the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, which is the recipient of the 2016 American Bar Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Environmental Law and Policy.
