The College of Law’s annual Youth Law Day event recently brought more than 100 high school students from five regional schools to Dineen Hall for an introduction to the legal profession, hearing about the role of attorneys in society, and how to chart a path to law school.
Participating schools were Binghamton High School, Geneva High School, Fowler High School, Jamesville-DeWitt High School, and the Syracuse Central Institute of Technology. This year’s program was coordinated by Professor Lauryn Gouldin, co-founder of the Syracuse Civics Initiative.
Students heard from a panel of College of Law alumni on strategies for effective advocacy that featured the Hon. Thérèse W. Dancks L’91, Hon. Ramón E. Rivera L’94, Marisol Estrada Cruz L’23, and Mazaher E.G.E. Kaila L’22. Kimberly Wolf Price L’03, Chief Strategy & Diversity Officer at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC and Member, NYSBA Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, discussed how voting is a form of advocacy while Professor Katherine Macfarlane led the students through a mock law class.
The Keynote lecture was delivered by the Hon. Brenda K. Sannes, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York. Afterwards, the students broke into groups to tackle a mock argument activity led by 2L Noah Centore, 3L Evan Groder, 3L Omnia Shedid, 3L Mahogani Counts, 3L Zach Mazuzan, 3L Danny Peraza, 2L Sarah Simon-Patches, and 2L Suzan Elzawahry.
The visiting students were then able to ask a panel of current Syracuse Law students about their path to law school, how to prepare for the LSAT, good study and test-taking habits, and more. The panel was moderated by 3L Evan Groder and featured 3L Jennifer Arinze, 2L Jesse Elmer, 1L Jayda Howard, and 3L Nathanael Linton.
Suzette Meléndez, Faculty Fellow for the Office of Strategic Initiatives in Academic Affairs and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Teaching Professor at the College of Law, provided closing remarks.
More information about Youth Law Day can be found here.
Event sponsors were:
Syracuse University College of Law
Barclay Damon
Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC Law Firm
Bousquet Holstein
Federal Court Bar Association
The Hon. Robert A. Katzmann Justice for All: Courts and the Community Initiative
Lexis Nexis
New York State Bar Association
Porter Law Group
Syracuse Civics Initiative
Syracuse Student Bar Association
Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
