CONGRATULATIONS

YOUR MONTHLY THURGOOD MARSHALL SCHOOL OF LAW ELECTRONIC NEWS & INFORMATION

SOURCE FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April ?May 2017

CONGRATULATIONS

to the Thurgood Marshall School of Law class of 2017

Friday, May 12, 2017, 134 law school graduates were hooded at the Texas Southern University Health and Physical Education Arena in Houston, Texas, 40 of whom graduated with honors. Amongst the 2017 graduating class were four students of the inaugural Immigration LL.M. program. The student processional was led by Ashley Scott, Assistant Director of Career Services and Kenyon Moore, Assistant Director of Admissions, followed by the Faculty and Law School Administration led by Associate Professor of Law Anna James and Earl Carl Distinguished Professor of Law Constance Fain. Reflections were given by Interim Dean & Distinguished Professor of Law, James M. Douglas, Valedictorian Kevin Christiansen, Valedictorian Hilario Hernandez and Professor of Law and Faculty of the Year Ana Otero. Cassandra Hill, Associate Dean and Professor of Law introduced Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the Honorable Kenneth Hoyt. For we wish our graduates the best and encourage them to achieve great things.

Congratulations class of 2017!!!

"If you want to finish the course, start living by the circumstances of your dreams"

- The Honorable Kenneth Hoyt

FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April--May 2017

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2017 Hooding Ceremony

Right: Daniel Vaughn, who survived six brain surgeries and is blind, graduated summa cum laude. Vaughn was escorted by his significant other while his mother who attended many classes, sat proudly in the stands.

Table of Contents

1st ed.--Class of 2017

cover

February Bar Passers

3

Faculty Highlights

4

Staff Highlights

7

Criminal Law Clinic

9

Experiential Learning

10

Earl Carl Institute 2nd ed.--Moot Court Naming

11 cover

Student News

15

Alumni Highlights

22

Career Services

26

Upcoming Events

27

FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April--May 2017

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CONGRATULATIONS

to OUR FEBRUARY 2017 Bar Passers

Abila, Jubaile Brown, Anthony Chambers, Amber Clark-Jones, Sherika Corbett, Chole

Deleon, Juan Duru, Adaugo Glaze, Samuel Gutierrez, Omar Merida, Latoya Miller, Shakila Nasser, Jennifer Okpiabhele, Ekata Robbins, Paul Saranto, Nicholas Spano, Jessica Uribe, Elizabeth Washington, Cecily Watts, Susan White, Christopher

FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April--May 2017

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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

Professor Fernando Colon Na-

Professor Deana Pollard-Sacks

varro accepted an invitation to

received SSRN's "Top 10%" dis-

be a featured keynote speaker at

tinction this month. Professor

this year's 3rd Annual National

Pollard-Sacks is in the top 10% of

Hispanic Pre-Law Conference on

all authors on SSRN by down-

November 10, 2017, at New York

loads. SSRN's eLibrary provides

Law School.

727,610 research papers from

335,938 researchers across 30

disciplines including, but not lim-

Associate Dean Cassandra ited to, business, law, political science, and humani-

Hill's ar ticle, T he Elephant in ties. Per the statistical information on SSRN, Profes-

the Law School Assessment sor Pollard-Sacks has received over 4,000 total num-

Room: The Role of Student Re- ber of downloads of her articles posted on SSRN.

sponsibility and Motivating Our SSRN ranks the top 30,000 authors on its website,

Students to Learn, was recently which you can access at the following link: https://

cited by two authors in scholar- en/index.cfm/top-authors/.

ship on educating today's law-

yers. Nicola A. Boothe-Perry, a professor at Florida

Professor SpearIt was r ecently

Agricultural & Mechanical University College of

recognized by the ABA Section

Law, cited Associate Dean Hill's article in The "New

on Criminal Justice for his lead-

Normal" for Educating Lawyers, 31 BYU J. Pub. L.

ership on Pell Grant funding for

53, 61 n.45 (2016), as support for the proposition that

prisoners,http://

law schools and law professors should continually

content/

work to improve their teaching and student learning.

dam/aba/administrative/

Additionally, Heather D. Baum, a professor at Villa-

criminal_justice/leade

nova University School of Law, cited Associate Dean

ship_2017.authcheckdam.pdf. He

Hill's article in Inward Bound: A n Exploration of presented at Lone Star College on 4/13/17 on a panel

Character Development in Law School, 39 U. Ark. entitled "Knowledge is Power" and at Florida A&M

Little Rock L. Rev. 25, 56 n.220 (2016), when dis- University School of Law on 4/7/17, where he pre-

cussing the need for professors to set high expecta- sented "Firepower to the People: Gun Rights and Law

tions through course learning outcomes that focus on of Self-Defense to Curb Police Misconduct." SpearIt

student responsibility for learning and professional has accepted an invitation to republish his article,

development.

Muslim Radicalization in Prison: Sound Penal Policy

or the Sound of Alarm?" in the book Islamophobia in

Professor Stephanie Ledesma's America (forthcoming 2018, Cambridge University

article, PTSD and Bad Paper Dis- Press). His work was cited in the peer-review article

charges: Why the Fairness to Sol- A Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Effectiveness of

diers Act Is Too Little, Too Late, Prison Education in Reducing Recidivism and In-

received the Social Science Re- creasing Employment, Probation Journal (2017),

search Network's (SSRN's) "Top

Ten download" recognition on abs/10.1177/0264550517699290 and "`I Do Feel the

the (1) Disability Law eJournal, Fire!': The Transformations of Prison-Based Black

(2) Health Care Law & Policy Male Converts to Islam in South Central, Malcolm X,

eJournal, (3) Psychological An- and Oz, 21 J. of Rel. & Film 1 (2017), http://

thropology eJournal, and (4) Political Economy - De- digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

velopment: Health eJournal research lists.

article=1730&context=jrf.

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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Cont'd.

Professor L. Darnell Weeden's ar ticle entitled T ransgender Bathroom R ights A nd President Obama's Unauthorized Scheme to Transform Title IX was recently published as the lead article in Western State Law Review, 44 W. St. L. Rev. 1 (2016). In the article, Professor Weeden contends the national battle over transgender rights has been created by a directive from the United States Department of Justice that public schools must grant transgender students access to bathrooms that agree with their self-proclaimed gender identity. The battle has heated up since the Obama Administration filed a civil rights suit challenging a North Carolina law regulating transgender status.

Professor Edieth Wu was elected Faculty Vice Chair per son for the 2017- 2019 Texas Southern University Faculty Senate.

TMSL Honored by Houston Lawyers Association

Thurgood Marshall School of Law Innocence Project

Francis Williams Advocacy Award

Professor April Walker

Roberson L. King Excellence in Education Awardee

Thurgood Marshall School of Law's own, Professor April Walker and the TMSL Innocence Project was among the honorees at the Houston Lawyers Association's Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala on May 27, 2017. Professor April Walker received the Roberson L. King Excellence in Education Award for commitment to empowering the community through education and service. The award also recognizes Professor Walker's dedication to educating "...today's legal scholars and tomorrow's legal icons."

The TMSL Innocence Project received the Francis Williams Advocacy Award which recognizes its unrelenting and vigorous defense of significant issues of concern for the African American community that vastly impact social change. Please join us in congratulating Professor Walker and the TMSL Innocence Project!

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April ?May 2017

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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Cont'd.

Professor Lydia Johnson Named Mentor of the Year

TMSL Associate Professor Lydia Johnson r eceived the astounding achievement of being voted, "Mentor of the Year" by the Har r is County Cr iminal Lawyer s Association (HCCLA), the lar gest cr iminal defense lawyers association in Texas!

On May 11, 2017, at HCCLA's 47th Annual Banquet at Hotel ZaZa in Houston, TX. Professor Johnson was recognized for her outstanding mentorship in training 3L law students to represent indigent citizens charged with misdemeanor offenses.

Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law is the only law school in Harris County with a Criminal Defense Clinic.

Congratulations, Professor Lydia Johnson on a job well done!

FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April--May 2017

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STAFF HIGHLIGHTS

Administrators of the Year

Please join the TMSL family in congratulating Marsha Griggs, Assistant Dean of Academic Support, and Virgie Mouton, Instr uctor and Assistant Dean of Student Affair s on being awar ded Administr ator s of the Year by the 2016--2017 Student Bar Association. They received this Award for their commitment and dedication to excellence at TMSL.

FROM THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ? (713) 313-1197

April--May 2017

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STAFF HIGHLIGHTS Cont'd.

CONGRATULATIONS

to our 2017 Staff Graduates

Dr. Charlene James--Piper

Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction

Meshach Sullivan Bachelor of Arts in Communications

Malika Nailah Davis Doctor of Pharmacy

Ronda Harrison Master of Arts

in Educational Leadership from St. Thomas University

Juana Eburi Master of Business Administration--General Business

Edvania Missick Master of Business Administration--Accounting

* Mattie Chadwick (Not pictur ed) - Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration

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