By Jordan Poll
U-M Law
Michigan Law’s Senior Day celebration, held May 4, featured Glynn Washington, ’96—the host and executive producer of Snap Judgment, the radio show/podcast/stageshow/television program distributed by NPR affiliate, WNYC—as its guest speaker. Johannah Walker, a member of the Class of 2018, was the student speaker. Both offered words of wisdom to graduates: Washington stressed the importance of remaining connected to one’s Law School classmates, while Walker spoke of the power of a Michigan Law degree and reminded graduates of the obligations that it holds.
During the ceremony, candidates for juris doctor, master of laws, and master of laws in international tax degrees were hooded and received their certificates of Lawyers Club membership.
In addition, four students were recognized for their exceptional leadership, academic excellence, and contributions to the Law School community, and were presented with the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship, Jane L. Mixer Memorial, and Irving Stenn Jr. awards. They join five other recipients from the 2017–2018 academic year who were recognized at the December Senior Day ceremony.
Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award
Established by alumni and friends of the Law School in memory of Dean Henry M. Bates, the Bates Award recognizes outstanding graduates boasting high levels of achievement and a well-rounded character.
John He, editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review, finalist in the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition, president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and project manager of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, has excelled at virtually every aspect of law school life.
“Attending Michigan Law has been the best decision. My classmates made me strive to be a better person, and my professors challenged me to think in new and exciting ways,” said He, who will clerk for The Hon. Marsha Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and The Hon. Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. “I attribute my success to my peers and professors. Their support and encouragement led me to pursue the opportunities that I had here, and they’ve been with me every step of the way. Everything I’ve accomplished has been with them by my side.”
Damayanti Desai, who graduated in December, was a contributing editor for the Michigan Journal of Law Reform, president of the executive board for the 1L Oral Advocacy Competition, and a member of Street Law, a student group working in conjunction with Parnall Correctional Facility. As a student-attorney for the Michigan Innocence Clinic, she aided in the exoneration of Lamarr Monson, who spent 22 years in prison. She placed third in the Campbell Moot Court Competition, and served on its executive board a year later. Desai currently is a Law Fellow for the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project in Washington, D.C., after which she will clerk for The Hon. James O. Browning of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
John Ramer, who also graduated in December, served as president of the Michigan Law Federalist Society and co-president of the Michigan Law Veterans Society, and also was a member of the Michigan Law Review and executive board member of the Campbell Moot Court Competition. He currently is working as a research assistant for the Michigan Solicitor General’s Office in Lansing, Michigan. In the fall, he will return to the chambers of The Hon. Raymond Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, for a clerkship. He interned for Judge Kethledge during his 1L summer.
Jane L. Mixer Memorial Award
This award honors students who have made the greatest contribution to activities designed to advance the cause of social justice.
Änna Jones was a member of MDefenders and the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, editorial board member of the Michigan Journal of Law Reform, and student-attorney for the Juvenile Justice Clinic. She spent her 1L summer at the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office in Detroit and her 2L summer at the Colorado State Public Defenders Office, where she drove successful outcomes in two trials. Jones continued her work with the Colorado State Public Defenders Office during her 3L year and will return there in the fall. “It’s an incredible feeling to be recognized for the thing that is most meaningful to me; work that advances the cause of social justice,” said Jones.
“I couldn’t be happier to receive this award alongside Sam and Maddy, two women who are future public defenders, and whom I know will better the world around them through their work and passion.”
Samantha Jaffe, who graduated in December, was notes editor for the Michigan Law Review, a legal research assistant for the Law School’s Prison & Family Justice Project, and a student-attorney for the Unemployment Insurance Clinic, Child Advocacy Law Clinic, and Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic. She also spent her summers clerking for Alameda County Public Defender, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. She was a contributor to Take Care, a national legal blog, before clerking for The Hon. Catharine F. Easterly of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, after which she will clerk for The Hon. David A. Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Madeleine Jennings was a member of MDefenders, the Poverty Law Society, and the Organization of Public Interest Students. She mentored students through the Criminal Law Society and served as an executive board member for the Student Rights Project and as co-president of Project Access. Jennings served on the executive editorial board of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law and co-chaired the Journal’s 2018 symposium, “A More Human Dwelling Place: Reimagining the Racialized Architecture of America.” She was a student-attorney in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and spent her summers at Orleans Public Defenders, Civil Rights Corps, and the Alaska Public Defender Agency. During the fall of her 3L year, Jennings externed at the Federal Defender Office in Detroit. Following graduation, she will join Orleans Public Defenders as a Gideon’s Promise Law School Partnership Fellow.
“In each of my jobs and throughout law school, I owe more than I can say to my mentors, colleagues, and friends,” she said. “On the heels of this education, I feel grateful to have gotten to know so many wonderful people, to have had such wonderful clients and colleagues, and I will continue to hold onto the small victories.”
Irving Stenn Jr. Award
Made possible through the generosity of its namesake, Irving Stenn Jr. and his father, Irving Stenn Sr., the Stenn Award recognizes leadership and contributions through extracurricular activities to the strength of the Law School community.
Hannah Rubashkin (2L) co-chaired Student Funded Fellowships, managed social media for the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, and worked as a student researcher for the Voting Rights Initiative. As a 1L, she worked as a judicial intern for Associate Justice Richard L. Gabriel of the Colorado Supreme Court. This past fall Rubashkin served as an associate editor of the Michigan Journal of Law Reform and later joined the managing editorial board as its development editor. She is spending her summer at White & Case LLP in New York.
Selena Alonzo (2L) served as president of the First Generation Law Students, treasurer of the Law School Student Senate, advocate for the Student Rights Project, and member of Street Law, Project Access, MDefenders, and the Latino Law Students Association. She spent her 1L summer working with the Legal Aid Society Manhattan Criminal Defense Trial Division, and this summer she is working at King County Department of Public Defense in Seattle. Alonzo looks forward to an externship with the Detroit Justice Center before graduating in December 2018.
Ian Williams served in various positions within the Law School Student Senate, including as treasurer. He was an editor-in-chief of the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, treasurer for the Organization of Public Interest Students, and member of the Privacy and Technology Law Association, the American Constitution Society, the Nannes 3L Challenge Committee, and the Wellness Committee. He participated in the Michigan Access Program and served as a first-year information leader offering guidance to 1Ls. He was also a member of the Headnotes, an a capella group, starting in his first semester.
“Many of my best law school memories are centered around my extracurriculars,” said Williams, who will be returning to Washington, D.C., where he will take advantage of the Michigan Law Legal Practitioner Fellowship. “I discovered a wonderful sense of joy, of purposefulness though my work—and I loved that I could see the results throughout the Law School. The secret of community involvement is that once one starts, it becomes hard to stop, and nor will you want to stop. Above all others, that’s the lesson I will carry with me into the future, and one I hope my peers have learned as well.”
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