Nana Gochiashvili LL.M. ’22, Disability Law Fellow from the country of Georgia, was recently awarded a one-year fellowship at Jindal Global University, located in Delhi, India. Gochiashvili will serve as an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of International Internships at the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) of O.P. Jindal Global University. This is a competitive position and prestigious fellowship, with an application process open to interested candidates from all over the world.
Beginning in July of 2022, Gochiashvili will begin her fellowship by teaching, conducting research, and overseeing and monitoring the planning, development, and implementation of new courses in disability law. She will also conduct independent research, participate in workshops, and present public lectures. Content for her courses will be based on content from disability law classes taught by Professor Arlene Kanter, Faculty Director of International Programs, which Gochiashvili participated in during her 2021-22 LLM year.
Continuing her work in disability law, Gochiashvili will join Kanter on June 14-16 as one of five students to attend the Conference of States Parties Meeting on the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities at the United Nations.
Celestine Chaney, 65, Roberta A. Drury, 32, Andre Mackneil, 53, Katherine Massey, 72, Margus D. Morrison, 52, Heyward Patterson 67, Aaron Salter Jr., 55, Geraldine Talley, 62, Ruth Whitfield, 86, Pearl Young, 77
A week ago on Saturday, the unfathomable once again became the reality in America when racist violence struck in Buffalo, killing 10 and injuring three of our fellow human beings. All of the victims of the 18-year-old white murderer’s rampage were Black, and two of the injured were white. The anguish and anger caused by the killer’s terrorist acts is not only the senseless loss of such beautiful lives, ranging from ages 32 to 86, but also the sheer mendacity of killer’s planning and the mundaneness of victims’ activities when they were killed.
Racial hatred has become much too common. And it would be wrong to think that this latest mass assault on Black lives began on that awful Saturday; Buffalo is only the most recent episode. As must be clear by now, racism permeates all areas of U.S. society, constantly rupturing lives, families and communities. During slavery and after the Civil War, racist terror reigned against people of African descent with brutality and policies that entrenched their second-class status in the U.S.
“José lived his life with purpose, and he engaged in his profession with genuine intentionality to serve and advance the interests of justice for all people especially those whose voices were not heard within our legal systems. His legacy is one that should be emulated by everyone, and it will continue to serve as an example for students to whom he dedicated so much of life, passion, and energy,” Suzette Meléndez, Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion
Bahamonde-González L’92 was the recipient of the 2020 College of Law Latin American Law Students Association Legacy Award.
Professor Jennifer Breen and Associate Dean Kristen Barnes have both been awarded 2022 Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) grants from the Syracuse University Research Office.
Breen will receive a Seed Grant of up to $5,000 for her new research project on the Disparate Responses of Labor Unions to COVID Workplace Protections.
Associate Professor of Sociology Gretchen Purser was a co-primary investigator for this project. The research team is interested in understanding the variation in public health responses to the COVID pandemic from labor unions. According to Breen and Purser’s research, unions are important drivers of political participation, particularly among individuals with low levels of education. The team plans to explore how unions might drive political participation, also considering whether unions counter misinformation on the pandemic.
Barnes will receive an Interdisciplinary Seminar Grant of up to $7,500 for her interdisciplinary series on the Write2Vote: Curricula to Enhance Civic Engagement and Representation.
Barnes is one of the investigators on the team, along with Patrick Berry, Associate Professor of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition, Mark Brockway, Faculty Fellow in Political Science and Religion, Brice Nordquist, Associate Professor and Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition, and Hector Rendon, Assistant Professor of Communications. The primary goal of this interdisciplinary series is to develop and connect civically engaged courses, assignments, and experiences across a range of curricular contexts at Syracuse University and assess the impact of implemented civic engagement for students, instructors, and community partners. Building on the Write2Vote civic engagement framework by a national network of scholars, the team seeks to use course assignments and curricular components to promote civic engagement among students and facilitate representation for marginalized groups in local communities.
In selecting CUSE grants, the panel reviews certain criteria in assessing a competitive number of proposals. Subject matters span from the overall merit of the application to potential success for extramural funding, increased scholarship, enhanced reputation, and success with past intramural funding. The panel also reviews the qualifications of project personnel, adequacy of facilities, and significance of the project regarding relevance and alignment with CUSE program priorities and current or future research trends.
In late April, Professor Arlene Kanter, Faculty Director of International Programs, was inducted as an honorary member of the Syracuse University Pi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars.
Pi Beta Delta is the first honor society dedicated to recognizing scholarly achievement in international education. Kanter served as the keynote speaker for the 2022 induction ceremony. Among her international law contributions, Kanter worked with the United Nations committee on drafting the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Kanter is pictured here with Nataliya Kolesova, a Ph.D. student from Ukraine who Kanter is advising on her dissertation and teaching in classes at the College of Law.
“It was a great honor for me to present Professor Kanter with the award,” Kolesova said. “I respect her very much and am immensely grateful for the knowledge she has passed on to me. She is my role model.”
Germain says former shareholders may be able to avoid the bill if they can establish with the IRS they didn’t receive a benefit from the loan being forgiven.
“If a bankruptcy judge says, ‘You have these 10 partners who might own taxes,’ and the IRS feels there are 20 partners who owe taxes, they’ll go after the 20 partners,” Germain said.
Among other students named to the Board from the Whitman School of Management, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and the College of Arts and Sciences, Telga will serve as a representative of the campus community and share diverse perspectives and insights with the Board and its various committees. She will also serve as a vital voice in helping the University implement strategic objectives in support of its mission and vision.
Telga is joined by academic dean representative Craig Boise, dean of the College of Law, as a representative to the Board of Trustees for the 2022-23 academic year.
On Friday, May 6, Syracuse University College of Law held Commencement for its 199 J.D. and 33 LL.M. graduates. The event, the first in-person Commencement since 2019, featured the first cohort of graduating online J.D. students. Luke Cooper L’01 CEO of Latimer Ventures, Partner at Preface Ventures, and 2022 Visiting Scholar at the University of Maryland Baltimore was the Commencement speaker.
Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud provided remarks and introduced the Hon. Theodore A. McKee L’75 Endowed Law Scholarship, thanks to the generosity of Board of Advisors Member Richard M. Alexander L’82, Chairman of Arnold & Porter, and his wife Emily. The scholarship will provide Syracuse Law students with the education and cultural context to enable them to carry forward the legacy of Judge McKee, who has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for 27 years.
Professor Todd Berger was voted by the J.D. Class of 2022 as the recipient of the Res Ipsa Loquitur Award, given to a faculty member for “service, scholarship, and stewardship” to the students. Professor Richard Risman was voted by the LL.M. Class of 2022 as the recipient of the Lucet Lex Mundum Award, given to a professor who has made a significant impact on the successes and the experiences of the LL.M. students during their studies.
In his remarks to graduates, Cooper emphasized the importance of always embracing the most authentic pieces of ourselves and broadcasting how these strengths can play to our advantage in overcoming challenges. Reflecting on his personal journey, he also encouraged students to find their purpose and to find the “mud” that’s beneath and around all of us, and to ask themselves how they will help clear the mud and bring about a more inclusive world. “A great orator once asked, what’s most important… the flower… or the ground that grows it? In order for the flower to fully blossom and mature it must traverse a muddy path slowly, and with intention, bending it toward the light. That muddy path contains the secrets to its beauty… the secrets to its magic.”
Class of 2022 President Gabriella Kielbasinski remarked, “Class of 2022, we have struggled, and studied, and sacrificed for that idea of a career that we now get to pursue. We have lived through some historic, and sometimes exhausting moments, and while today is a great triumph, I also know that some of us feel like we just need a second to catch our breaths, but I have high hopes for our futures. Because, yes, these have been unprecedented times, but I believe that unprecedented times can only create unprecedented lawyers.”
LL.M. Student Bar Association Representative Sindy Perez Ospino said, “To my fellow LLM classmates, I want to acknowledge the unique challenges that we as international students sometimes face. But, in a year rocked by invasions, coups, human rights violations, and a pandemic, we must remember that we have to be resilient and continue fighting for our dreams, to speak up, and not give up. Thank you, LL.M. students, for showing me the meaning of kindness, resilience, and brotherhood. “
College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022College of Law Commencement, 2022
According to the study, “people with a health condition or impairment, and who identify as a person with a disability, reported experiencing proportionately more overt forms of discrimination, such as bullying and harassment, as compared to people who do not have such conditions.”
The article goes on to discuss four tips for law firms to make sure diversity policies don’t fall short when it comes to accessibility, including building policies collaboratively, creating an accepting culture that encourages self-identification, encouraging broad participation, and being intentional with policies and accommodations.
Hannah Gavin L’23 has been awarded the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs Family Member Scholarship by the Office of Veterans and Military Affairs (OVMA). Part of Syracuse’s commitment to being the best home for veterans and their families, these awards provide impactful financial assistance to military-connected students.
Gavin’s father, a veteran, attended Syracuse University to pursue a degree in education. The experiences he shared with Hannah inspired her to follow in his footsteps at the University, with the goal of pursuing a law degree. Gavin, a second-year student in the College of Law, has dreamt of being a lawyer since she was a young child and hopes to one day become a family law attorney to support families across the country and the world.
“I hope to pursue a career in a public interest firm providing legal support to those unable to afford private counsel,” she says.
This scholarship will allow Gavin to participate in internships this summer and next year to pursue that career.
