Campus Life News Archives - Page 28 of 29

Student Darnesha Carter: star academic and advocate

Darnesha Carter knew that she wanted to be an advocate while she was still a high school student in Riverview, Florida. Once she had decided that law school was her goal, Darnesha took all of the law school prep courses available at Riverview High School.

When it came time to choose a law school, Darnesha said that Stetson stood apart. The friendly campus, a full merit scholarship, and proximity to family made the choice easier.

“To someone thinking about law school, I’d say enjoy the experience,” said Darnesha, who is now wrapping up her third year of law school at Stetson. “I wish someone had told me to enjoy the moment.”

At Stetson law school, Darnesha quickly became a star academic and advocate. Participating in and winning second place in Stetson’s Closing Argument Competition for first-year law students, and later becoming a moot court board member, helped Darnesha hone her oral communication skills. She joined the Stetson Law Review during her first year and later became an editor. She rose to the top of her class academically. She is a member of the Honors Program and has landed on the Dean’s List every eligible semester of law school. The first in her family to attend law school, Darnesha received the highest grade in Research and Writing and was invited to join Stetson’s moot court team.

“Moot court helped with building my confidence,” said Darnesha, who admitted she was nervous during her first presentations before the moot court competition judges.

“Brief writing on moot court gives you a sense of what good legal writing looks like,” Darnesha added.

By the time she participated in her fourth moot court competition, Darnesha said she felt more confident, even tying for best oral advocate in her latest competition.

She explained that working on the Stetson Law Review helped her to become a more meticulous writer with a keen eye for detail.

The former psychology and English major said that her performance in law school is directly related to her mental state.

She described how becoming confused about a tough law school exam question completely shattered her concentration early in her academic career. Darnesha said she learned then that the approach decided the outcome.

“Don’t let a bad grade be the ultimate deciding factor,” Darnesha advised future law students. “Don’t let a grade define you.”

At the root of Darnesha’s determination to succeed is a desire to help people.

Working with Special Olympics for two years while studying for her undergraduate degree at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Darnesha said that she realized how much we take for granted. Watching individuals with challenges competing to be the best in the Special Olympics was inspiring, Darnesha said.

In law school at Stetson, Darnesha participated with fellow law students in Law Fest to help people convicted of crimes apply to have their rights restored. She joined the Healthcare Law Association in her first year of law school and later the Black Law Students Association, where she was named member of the year 2013-2014. After law school, Darnesha said that she plans to use her expertise in civil litigation and business to help start-up businesses and to give back to the community.

“Joining student organizations opens up a lot of learning and networking opportunities and being a member of the executive boards allows you to develop leadership skills,” said Darnesha. “These are the people you will work with post-graduation. They are more than friends—they will ultimately be your partners and colleagues in the legal workforce.”

Darnesha worked as a summer associate with Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, where she was recommended to Judge Mary S. Scriven in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Her internship with Judge Scriven has led to a job offer when she graduates.

“Watching Judge Scriven, I was impressed by her intellect, quick thinking, and strong ability to impartially administer justice,” said Darnesha, whose dream is to one day work in the judiciary.

Darnesha said, “I try to live by the saying: shoot for the moon, you might just land among the stars.”

Building respect: Speakers present on cultural competency and professionalism

Matthew Antonio Bosch spoke with students on Feb. 9. Photo by SeanCarlo Lopez.

Consultants from Elon University in North Carolina traveled to Stetson University College of Law on Feb. 8-9 to present on LGBTQIA inclusion in the campus community.

Matthew Antonia Bosch and Brooke Barnett, Ph.D., facilitated four events including a faculty workshop, student workshop, break-out session with the law school deans, and a break-out session for LGBTQIA student leaders.

Bosch is the director of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center and Barnett is the associate provost for inclusive community and a professor in the communications school at Elon University.

Bosch presented an interactive session, “Cultural Competency and Professionalism: The Path to Inclusion of the LGBTQIA Community in Practice,” to Stetson law students on Feb. 9.

“Not only did this session focus on how to achieve a friendly, inclusive campus community, but Bosch also provided hands-on tools to build a culture of respect, acceptance, celebration and to effect positive change,” said student leader and Lambda president Nathan Bruemmer, who helped organize the event.

(L-R): Lambda vice-president Francisco Lopez, Lambda president Nathan Bruemmer, Antonio Bosch and Stetson law school Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz. Photo courtesy Nathan Bruemmer.

Based on their successful inclusion efforts, Elon University was named among CampusPride’s “Top 25 LGBTQ-Friendliest Campuses in the U.S.” and received a grant to provide training and coaching to other southeastern universities.

“Creating a safe environment and treating one another with dignity and respect is part of professionalism,” said Bruemmer. “We begin to shape and model that professionalism while we are law students through our interactions with professors, in clinics and internships, and with one another on campus. I hope this and future cultural competency workshops will carry this level of professionalism forward into our legal careers. ”

The Lambda Legal Society, President’s Diversity Council, American Bar Association Law Student Division of Stetson Law, and Stetson’s Office of Student Life sponsored the event.

Student trial team member, mom and student leader receives multiple scholarships

Student Starcee Brown, a member of the Stetson law school trial team and single parent to her two-year-old son, recently received the Bar Study Scholarship from the Malcolm Cunningham, Sr. Bar Association. The bar association awards scholarships to well-deserving third-year African American students preparing to sit for the Florida Bar exam.

Student Starcee Brown and son. — Student Starcee Brown and son Brynson. Photo courtesy Starcee Brown.

Brown received the scholarship during the annual William M. Holland Scholarship luncheon on Feb. 5.

Brown also received the Richard R. Garland Diversity Scholarship from the Sarasota County Bar Association in May of 2015. She worked with Legal Aid of Manasota in Sarasota during the summer as the Sarasota County Bar Association’s diversity intern.

Brown received an essay-based scholarship from the law firm of Katz & Phillips, P.A. in March of 2015. That scholarship benefits high-achieving single parents who plan to attend or are currently attending law school.

She is a member of the executive boards of the Black Law Students Association and Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honor Society and serves as vice-president of the Stetson Law Parents.

Brown graduates with her J.D. from Stetson law school in 2016, and plans to practice as a criminal defense attorney and a family law attorney. She recently learned that she has been accepted into the Ph.D. program in criminology at the University of South Florida.

Remembering Justice Antonin Scalia

On a sunny afternoon on April 4, 2007, Justice Antonin Scalia visited Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, to talk with members of the law school community.

Justice Antonin Scalia spoke on the Gulfport campus of Stetson law school in 2007.

It was a rare opportunity for the more than 800 Stetson law school students in attendance to have a chance to hear from a member of the High Court, and to ask Justice Scalia questions in an intimate courtyard setting.

Justice Scalia spoke for more than 90 minutes to the crowd gathered to hear him talk in 2007.

He also spoke at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg at the invitation of the Stetson Law Review in May of 1990 as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Stetson elder law center co-director receives inaugural award from National Elder Law Foundation

Stetson University College of Law Center for Excellence in Elder Law co-director and professor Rebecca Morgan received an inaugural award from the board of directors of the National Elder Law Foundation for her significant and continuing contributions to the field of elder law.

Professor Rebecca Morgan.

Amos Goodall LL.M. in Elder Law ’09 presented the National Elder Law Foundation Award for Excellence in Elder Law to Professor Morgan during a law faculty meeting on Stetson’s Gulfport campus on Feb. 12. Goodall participated in the award nomination committee. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Elder Law Foundation and an attorney with Steinbacher, Stahl, Goodall & Yurchak.

Professor Morgan is a past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, past president of the board of directors of Justice in Aging, past chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Aging and the Law and the Florida Bar Elder Law Section. She is the author of numerous books and articles and lectures frequently on the topic of elder law.

Professor Morgan received the 2003 Faculty Award on Professionalism from the Florida Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, the 2004 NAELA Unaward for her accomplishments in the field of elder law, and the 2005 Project Award on Professionalism from the Florida Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism with Professor Roberta Flowers. She received the 2006 Rosalie Wolf Memorial Elder Abuse Prevention Award from the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. In 2008, Morgan received the Homer & Dolly Hand Award for Faculty Scholarship, the NAELA President’s Award, and the Theresa Award from the Theresa Alexandra Foundation. Professor Morgan was the 2009 recipient of the Treat award from the National College of Probate Judges.

The Center for Excellence in Elder Law was established at Stetson University to meet the increasing need for legal education and research in the field of law and aging. The Center provides legal education to law students, attorneys, and judges in the field of elder and special needs law and produces scholarly research and writing on issues impacting those who are older and/or have special needs.

Stetson law school students who wish to focus their studies on elder law can apply for acceptance into the concentration in Elder Law and attorneys who wish to gain knowledge about the practice of elder law can apply for admission to the LL.M. in Elder Law program at Stetson.

The National Elder Law Foundation is the only national certifying program for elder law and special needs attorneys. In 1994, the National Elder Law Foundation certified the first Certified Elder Law Attorneys. Today, there are more than 400 CELAs practicing in nearly every state and in most major cities in the U.S.

Food Law Society hosts Occupy the Farm

On Feb. 2, the Food Law Society and the Family Law Society held a free evening screening on Stetson’s Gulfport campus of Occupy the Farm, a documentary film that tells the story of a community’s fight to save the last sustainable farmland in the urban East Bay area near Oakland, California.

“The purpose of the event was to bring awareness to the fact that we are losing sustainable agriculture to the urbanization of small and large towns alike,” said SeanCarlo Lopez, Food Law Society treasurer. “The more urbanization that occurs will ultimately result in fewer and fewer areas that we can use to feed the masses.”

“The event was a great success,” Lopez continued. “Members of both the Stetson and greater community were in attendance.”

The Food Law Society served organic, non-GMO, gluten-free pizza, popcorn and cupcakes. The UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County invited members of the community, provided the movie and facilitated the Q&A session.

Professor Paul Boudreaux and Professor Lance Long, the Food Law Society and Environmental Law Society faculty adviser conducted an open-floor panel discussion after the film to discuss the issues presented in the movie. They fielded questions from the 35 people in attendance.

“The Food Law Society’s mission is to educate the community about the food which they consume and how to reduce food waste while also educating law students about ways to use law and policy to impact the food system,” said Lopez.

The Food Law Society will sponsor an event on March 1 at noon with Richard Blau, a shareholder with GrayRobinson. Blau will speak on the topic of legislating and litigating the concept of “natural” as it applies to food. The talk will encompass the FDA’s recent decision to take on the definition of “natural” for regulatory purposes.

Stetson Law hosts Raising the Bar community service day to benefit Southeastern Guide Dogs

Southeastern Guide Dog puppy in training. Photo courtesy Southeastern Guide Dogs.

The Florida Bar YLD Law Student Division and Stetson University College of Law are co-sponsoring Raising the Bar: Florida’s Legal Community Service Day, on Feb. 20 in Classroom D on Stetson’s Gulfport campus. The initiative, part of a statewide service day led by the legal community, will benefit Southeastern Guide Dogs.

WHO: Members of the legal community including lawyers, law students, law firms, judges and friends are invited to help make “Collars for Puppies.”

WHAT: Volunteers will help make colorful collars to help Southeastern Guide Dogs differentiate puppies from their look-alike siblings.

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 20, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

WHERE: Classroom D, Stetson University College of Law, 1401 61st St. S., Gulfport.

For more information about the program, please contact Stetson student Natalie Yello at [email protected].

Effect change: Student advocate Taylor Parker on Title IX

Second-year Stetson University College of Law student Taylor S. Parker wants her fellow students to know that they can effect change.

“With the small campus, I have found a tight-knit community where I can effectively generate professional contacts, as well as a close relationship with faculty and staff which has allowed me to work with Stetson to make change on this campus,” said Parker, who explained that Stetson’s Social Justice Advocacy Concentration program inspired her to come to law school at Stetson.

Barely an adult at the age of 18, Parker became an advocate. When Parker’s college friend experienced the challenges of filing a Title IX complaint, she wanted to help.

As an undergraduate developmental psychology and gender studies major at New College of Florida, Parker worked on an independent study project to help the college update its Title IX policy.

She wrote the college’s Title IX retaliation clause, and helped to develop a “curtain option” to safeguard accusers from intimidation and create a safe place for accusers to seek justice.

It was at New College that Parker became passionate about effecting policy change. She said that she learned that she needed to decide between a career in law or in counseling.

The Rape Crisis Center presented at the Gulfport campus on Feb. 2. Photo by Marissa Marchena.

“I had to decide between doing cleanup or preventive work,” Parker explained.

Counselors often work to triage the damage left behind when people are victimized. In law and policy, Parker said that she sees the possibility of creating change to help her fellow students before they are victimized.

As a 19-year-old college student in Sarasota, Parker became a Florida-trained Sexual and Domestic Violence Advocate. During all four years of college, she worked at a shelter for the victims of domestic violence, the Sarasota Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center. At SPARCC, Parker worked with children and teenagers on the Window Between Worlds project, she covered the hotline at the shelter, worked as a courtroom advocate for adults, and gathered resources to help victims of abuse receive compensation, substance abuse treatment safety planning and suicide prevention. She collected law enforcement statistics on mortality risks among victims.

Through her work as a researcher, Parker helped identify patterns and trends to help create better policies. She said that her experience working with children in the foster system at the shelter opened her eyes to the related issues of violence against women and domestic violence.

“Violence against women impacts everyone,” said Parker. “Harmful gender roles contribute to self-sustaining silence.”

Taylor is a Guardian Ad Litem, working with children in the dependency system as a voice and an advocate for their best interests in court. She is a research assistant in Stetson University’s Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy collecting research on Title IX. After law school, Taylor said she is inspired to work as a Title IX coordinator in higher education.

“Title IX allows students to have their voices heard and enact change,” said Parker.

After her first year of law school, Parker helped start a committee of student, faculty and staff members that acts as an arm of Student Life to create a Title IX policy tailored to the needs of the Stetson community. The unique needs of law students can include often misguided concerns over reporting abuse that might impact a bar application, Taylor explained.

Last semester, Taylor launched the Law Students for Reproductive Justice with a presentation on Reproductive Justice 101.

This spring, Taylor is orchestrating a large-scale training session for Stetson students on the law school campus to become certified in order to volunteer with a local domestic violence center in St. Petersburg. She has been working with a local Rape Crisis Center to organize a consent workshop on campus.

Taylor is also planning a presentation on the mistreatment of HIV positive people.

She is working with the Office of Student Life to develop a Sexual Health and Resource Center on Stetson’s Gulfport campus to provide individualized outreach to students in need. She compiled resources for students available through Student Life at the College of Law and helped co-sponsor a Rape Crisis Center presentation to the Gulfport campus on Feb. 2.

“It’s about fighting fear with outreach and education,” Taylor said.

For the love of the game: Scholarship celebrates classmates who balanced life with law school

Students Marissa Marchena and Joey Nemeh celebrate with family and friends at the scholarship banquet. — Students Marissa Marchena and Joey Nemeh celebrate with Nenezian and Jones family and friends at the scholarship banquet. Photo courtesy Marissa Marchena.

For the love of the game: students and alumni enjoy a beautiful afternoon of softball to celebrate the Rich Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial Scholarship. — Students and alumni enjoy a beautiful, windy afternoon of softball to celebrate the Rich Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial Scholarship. Photo by Marissa Marchena.

Students Marissa Marchena and Joey Nemeh were recently selected for the Rich Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship’s namesakes Nenezian and Jones are both alumni from the Stetson University College of Law class of 1984.

Both alumni died young in their 40s, but their classmates, friends and family memorialized Nenezian and Jones with a scholarship celebrating their love of life, laughter, and sports. Stetson law students selected for the scholarship demonstrate a passion for balancing the rigors of academic work with extracurricular activities and intramural sports.

Students and alumni played softball on the Gulfport campus. — Students and alumni played softball at Bear Creek Park in St. Petersburg to celebrate the scholarship.

Scholarship recipients Marchena and Nemeh celebrated with a banquet and softball game with alumni, the Nenezian and Jones family and friends on Jan. 23.

“We played 12 innings because everyone was having such a great time,” Marchena said.

Marchena said that she loves watching college football and baseball, plays softball and volleyball, and enjoys horseback riding.

“I love spending time with family and friends outdoors,” said Marchena. “I graduate in 2017 and my dream would be to work in college athletics.”

Nemeh said that he is an avid Chicago sports fan whose favorite sports to watch are basketball, football, baseball and hockey. He said that he enjoys participating in basketball and softball.

Nemeh, who graduates in May, said he would like to work with the State Attorney’s Office.

1984 Stetson law school graduate Pete Cooley organized the event. The inaugural banquet was held in January of 2008.

Rising star for community service and equality: Student Nathan Bruemmer

It is no surprise that Stetson University College of Law honored student Nathan Bruemmer with its Rising Star award in his first year of law school. For Nathan, law school started as a dream decades ago, before he spent a career as a teacher and started a family. He said he considers it a privilege to work on community service initiatives.

Since starting as a first-year student at Stetson law school in 2014, Nathan has led the Stetson Democrats, the Lambda Legal Society at Stetson, worked as a third-grade reading tutor with Lawyers for Literacy, and organized numerous activities on campus including the recent Transgender Day of Remembrance event.

In his spare time, Nathan participates in local, state and national initiatives. He is invited to speak regularly about LGBT equality issues on behalf of Equality Florida and several other organizations. In November of 2015, Nathan helped train more than 120 law enforcement officers in Orlando on transgender inclusion and diversity.

Currently, Nathan is serving as the ABA Law Student Division Liaison to the National LGBT Bar Association. He is also a member of the ABA SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Commission’s Advocacy Committee. At the same time, Nathan maintains a strong academic standing, competes for Stetson’s Trial Team and Alternative Dispute Resolution Board, serves as Stetson Law’s ABA representative, and is a Stetson Law Ambassador.

Stetson's program for Transgender Remembrance Day included a candlelight vigil. Photo courtesy Nathan Bruemmer. — Stetson’s program for Transgender Remembrance Day included a candlelight vigil. Photo courtesy Nathan Bruemmer.

Nathan’s commitment to community is also reflected in his academic pursuits. He joined the Clemency Project 2014 through a course offered at Stetson law school, did a Homeless Advocacy Internship, and signed up for Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic during the spring semester. Working with a team of Stetson law students, Nathan is helping Equality Florida revise its outdated legal handbook for LGBT Floridians following the Obergefell decision.

Nathan said that he thinks that law students and legal practitioners are in a position to raise the bar for community service and equality initiatives.

“I think we can do better as student leaders and future lawyers,” said Nathan.

Shark finning in Costa Rica: Randall Arauz delivers biodiversity lecture

Randall Arauz, president of PRETOMA, a marine conservation and research organization working to protect ocean resources and promote sustainable fisheries policies in Costa Rica and Central America, spoke via Skype from Costa Rica on Jan. 26 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida. Arauz’s talk was the first of three public lectures scheduled for the spring semester as part of the Edward and Bonnie Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series.

Randall Arauz deleivered the biodiversity lecture at Stetson Law on Jan. 26. — Randall Arauz delivered the biodiversity lecture at Stetson Law on Jan. 26.

Arauz outlined a series of marine conservation efforts that he started in the 1990s and continues today. In 1999, Arauz shut down green turtle slaughter and successfully protected sea turtle nesting beaches in Costa Rica. After witnessing the horrors of shark finning, Arauz launched a campaign in 2001 to end the practice. His work has had an impact on policies on a domestic, regional and global scale. Costa Rica, once the hub of the Eastern Pacific shark fin industry, became a shark conservation leader, although challenges to conservation remain.

In 2015, Arauz and his colleagues uncovered the illegal export of hammerhead shark fins in a Costa Rican airport that resulted in bans by American Airlines and UPS on transporting shark fins.

Arauz has been praised by world leaders for his shark conservation efforts. He was honored with the Whitley Fund for Nature Gold Medal in 2004, spoke at the United Nations, and received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010.

In February, he is participating in an international shark meeting in Costa Rica being held under the auspices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

According to a CMS fact sheet, “Sharks are highly vulnerable to overexploitation as they grow slowly, mature late and produce very few offspring. The rapid and largely unregulated increase in target fisheries and by-catch have depleted many populations of sharks and rays worldwide. It is estimated that 63 to 273 million sharks are killed per year.”

“We’re here to change the situation for the sharks,” Arauz told the audience.

Stetson’s next biodiversity lecture is scheduled for March 1 at 12 p.m. in the Great Hall on the Gulfport campus. Dr. Anne Meylan, senior research scientist in the Marine Turtle Research Program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, will speak on seat turtle conservation efforts.

Pregnancy discrimination: Nicole Bermel Dunlap presents on what to expect

On Jan. 21, Stetson’s student Labor & Employment Law Association hosted an event on pregnancy discrimination. The speaker, Nicole Bermel Dunlap of FordHarrison, LLP, discussed a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. and the future of pregnancy discrimination claims in light of the Court’s holding.

Nicole Bermel Dunlap of FordHarrison, LLP, talked with Stetson Law students about pregnancy discrimination. Photo by Karun Rivero.

Dunlap is the author of the article, “What to Expect when Employees Are Expecting—Managing Pregnant Health Care Workers,” written for the American Health Lawyers Association, and “Supreme Court ‘Delivers’ New Life to Pregnancy Discrimination Claims in Young v. United Parcel Service,” published in the Florida Bar Journal.

On Feb. 18, LELA will host an event featuring Cheryl Schroeder, executive director for West Central Florida Federation of Labor. Schroeder will present on “Labor Law Issues: The Workers’ Perspectives.” She will talk about the role of the American Federation of Labor; the National Labor Relations Act as the source of workers’ rights; protections for unionized vs. non-unionized employees; organizing; current issues in labor law, such as organizing via social media and the “Fight for $15” movement; and attorney jobs in the field of labor law.

On March 24, LELA will welcome guest speaker Jim Mallue of the Council for the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Mallue will present on “The Florida Commission on Human Relations’ Take on Employment Discrimination in Florida.” He will discuss protections afforded to employees under the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, administrative pre-requisites to filing a discrimination lawsuit, and the day-to-day functions of the Commission in deciding Floridians’ claims of unlawful discrimination.

Students interested in becoming members should follow LELA on Facebook (“Stetson Labor and Employment Law Association”). To join LELA’s listserv to receive notifications of future events, and labor and employment law writing competitions and scholarship opportunities, please email Viktoryia Johnson, LELA president, at [email protected].