With 131 incoming first-year students, Wayne State University Law School is marking a 10 percent increase over last year’s 119 first-year students.
Coursework is underway for the new class, which includes students ages 20 to 56. They hail from 35 undergraduate colleges and universities, where they pursed 34 undergraduate and graduate majors, including biology, chemistry, journalism, mathematics, music and religious studies. All but 10 students are from Michigan.
Eleven of the new students are in Wayne Law’s evening program, eight are in a combined program of day and evening classes, and 112 chose to attend the day program.
“I’m proud that with our boost in enrollment, we’ve also not only maintained but increased the caliber of our incoming students,” Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson said.
She noted that the median LSAT score of the incoming class is 157, up from 156 last year, and the median grade point average is 3.42, up from 3.29.
Admitted students were chosen by the Wayne Law Admissions Committee based on academic achievement, potential and a varied array of personal attributes. And the first-year students chose to attend Wayne Law for their own array of reasons.
First-year law student Hyunjin Eugene Cho of Howell, a senior infrastructure architect with Volkswagen Group of America, said he chose Wayne Law because of its reputation, affordability and flexibility of its evening program.
“My area of interest in law is data privacy and cyber law,” he said. “Working in the information technology industry and seeing the new technology trends and how they are being leveraged in the global economy, there are many challenges and questions that arise on how information is collected, stored and used. My goal after graduation is to use my knowledge of the law and technology to help my clients or my employer use these new technologies while maintaining appropriate data privacy policies and controls. In the end, for me it’s about doing what’s right and looking out for others.”
Cho holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in physics from Northern Illinois University. He studied hydrosystems engineering at the University of Illinois, as well.
For first-year law student Rachel McDuffie of Belleville, it was the civil rights law program and the law school’s extensive alumni network that convinced her to choose Wayne Law.
“I’m interested in criminal law, civil rights and employment and labor law, especially where these intersect,” she said. “Right now, my sights are set on a career in prosecution, but I’m open to the experiences that will come over the next few years … I’m committed to bridging the gaps that cycles of mistrust have created in our communities, and a law degree will help lay the foundation for effective practice.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan.
During her prior education and her work as a research administrator at the University of Michigan, she found herself seeking opportunities to advocate for others and make sure they knew their rights, she said.
“I realized that ‘hobby’ was actually a passion for law,” McDuffie said.
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