King Hall Honors Public Interest and Community-Spirited Graduates!
As classes ended, the King Hall community celebrated student accomplishments in public service work. The Public Service Graduation and Class of 2008 Celebration, held on April 24, was a time of joy as well as reflection.
Dean Rex Perschbacher, selected by the students to be faculty speaker, reminded students to take time to acknowledge their achievements. "Receiving a JD degree is an exceptional accomplishment. I know each and every one of you will be great lawyers--lawyers with conscience, drive, and the educational backing to make a difference in both your public and private endeavors."
Judge David Rosenberg '74, Superior Court of California, County of Yolo, has an extensive career serving the public and was an inspiring keynote speaker for public service graduates and the audience of students, faculty, staff, family, and friends.
The annual event began with the 2008 Public Service Graduation, which honors the Public Service Law Program scholars and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Service Award nominees and recipient.
The Public Service Graduation Committee bestows the Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award upon a graduating student who exemplifies Dr. King's vision and commitment to public service, with special emphasis placed on public service performed for the benefit of the community. Those nominated for the award represent the best the legal profession has to offer: a combination of excellent legal representation and a commitment to the underrepresented. Class of 2008 Martin Luther King, Jr., Service Award nominees included Monica Ashiku, Sarah Asplin, Meera Bhatt, Alison Brown, Erin Haney, Erin Hernandez, Renzo Maney, Julia Mendoza, and Kathleen Rojas. Erin Hernandez received the 2008 Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award.
During the ceremony, the King Hall Legal Foundation (KHLF) announced grant recipients and the James Hogan Award winner. Summer fellowship grant recipients included Shay Fluharty, Youth Law Center; Julie Cowitz, Office of the Federal Defender - Capital Habeas Unit; Jacob Croegaert, Legal Services of Northern California; Jennifer Dasteel, ACLU of Hawai'i, Prisoner's Advice Service - United Kingdom; Monica Feltz, Legal Services of Northern California; Rebecca Hayes, Bay Area Legal Aid; Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Immigrant Legal Resources Center; Allison Kephart, California Attorney General's Office - Public Rights Division, Natural Resources Section, & Environment Section; Janet Kim, Bay Area Legal Aid; Lorin Kline, Homeless Advocacy Project; Kim Le, Legal Services of Northern California; Finella Murphy, Southern California Housing Rights Center; Cam Phan, East Bay Community Law Center; and Genevieve Roman, Office of the Federal Defender - Capital Habeas Unit. The Hogan Award, presented to the student with the best proposal for public interest work through the KHLF grant application, was awarded to Shay Fluharty.
For the first year, KHLF awarded grants of $4,500 per recipient to cover the cost of the Bar examination. The 2008 graduating student award recipients are Monica Ashiku, Andrea Randisi, and Nagmeh Shariatmadar.
Law Students for Reproductive Justice announced that 2L Erin Simonitch was awarded the Third Annual Reproductive Rights Fellowship.
Immediately following the Public Service Graduation, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends joined 3L students on the Moss Patio for a BBQ and award ceremony, hosted by the School of Law Alumni Association.
Steve Boutin '72, president-elect of the UC Davis School of Law Alumni Association, congratulated graduating students and announced the 2008 UC Davis School of Law Frank and Margaret Johns Alumni Association Award recipients. The Alumni Association awarded $2,500 to four graduating students: Natalie Johnston, Alison Brown, Sarah Asplin, and Kathleen Rojas. Boutin said, "It was clear from the applications that these students were driven not by a need to build their resume, but rather by a genuine desire to make the King Hall experience better for their classmates and those who will follow." The award winners were introduced by Boutin and Laura Warner '06, recipient of the 2006 alumni award and student commencement speaker.
Boutin also thanked the Alumni Association Scholarship Committee, which included Boutin as committee chair, Kara Ueda '00, Adrienne Meredith '04, Kevin Davis '07, Pascal Benyamini '99, Michael Van Horne '75, John Schick '72, Gage Dungy '03, and Laura Warner ‘06.
There was much to celebrate. The Class of 2008 is truly an outstanding class, evident by their many achievements, including three prestigious 2008 Equal Justice Works Fellowships-a King Hall record! Monica Ashiku, Kristin Link, and Cassandra Lopez were awarded fellowships to work at nonprofit organizations and implement projects that address the legal needs of disenfranchised people.
Ashiku will work with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project in Harlingen, Texas. She will assist individuals detained at Willacy County Processing Center, the largest immigration detention center in the U.S. Link will provide preventative services to low-income residents and youth, primarily Latino immigrants, in Yolo County. Her project aims to achieve this goal through stabilizing the family unit. Lopez will work with Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland. She will work to reunite and stabilize families torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.
Dean Rex Perschbacher expressed his pride in King Hall students for representing the best of the aspirations of the rule of law and search for justice that make a career in law so worthwhile.