Student Ambassadors Give First Impressions for John Marshall
Visiting The John Marshall Law School's website is great, but prospective students find their interaction with a student ambassador gives the best impression of John Marshall.
Although John Marshall doesn't have a visitor center, it does have a strong team of nearly 50 welcoming students who will spend an average 60 minutes with visitors walking them through the building sharing important information, including class scheduling, top professors, library hours and student organizations. The volunteers go through a short training session to help acclimate them for their student ambassador role and give them insights into the workings of the law school so that they can provide the most accurate and current information.
The Student Ambassador Program was begun in the late 1980s by staff in the Admission Office. In 2000, when Erik Fagrelius joined that office, he nurtured the program and helped it grow into a vital student organization.
"These students are truly `ambassadors' for the law school, and they do a phenomenal job. They give the best interpretation of what law school is like. It's a true insider's view that a prospective student can't get from a professor or a staff member," Fagrelius said.
"I've had students tell me that they selected John Marshall because they truly felt it was a welcoming family," he explained. "We had one student who was thinking about enrolling. She was a returning adult who looked at a number of law schools. She told me that she sat on one of the benches in the lobby and watched people and how they interacted and she was really very impressed. She eventually became a student ambassador."
"I personally think there's no better person to sell the school than a student," said William B. Powers, associate dean of Admission and Student Affairs. "They are the ones who will give a student-perspective answer about the courses and the exams, the internships and jobs, the preparation for the bar exam."
Ambassador Shanita Golden remembers speaking at an open house program when someone asked about rejection letters and how to deal with them.
"I basically became transparent and I told the attendees my story," Golden said. "I applied to John Marshall twice a year for seven years before I was accepted. The moral of the story was persistence pays off.
"Later, during the fall 2007 welcome reception, I was one of the ambassadors and at the end of the breakout session and tour. A young lady approached me and she asked me if I was at the open house in the spring of `06. I told her I was and she told me that she remembered my story. She said that it inspired her to apply because she was having doubts. She applied and was accepted. I was so glad my story inspired someone else to pursue her dream."
Corey Leatherman was a Student Bar Association (SBA) 1L representative for her section when she became active with the Student Ambassador Program.
"The summer after my first year, I was taking classes and around school fairly frequently, so I would do tours if I was needed. During my second year, I became even more involved as a student ambassador, in addition to serving on the SBA Executive Board as the Illinois State Bar Association representative," she said.
Leatherman regularly gave tours, but found that she especially enjoyed working at John Marshall open houses and participating in undergraduate law forums at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she'd earned a bachelor's degree, and at the Chicago law forum. Leatherman found herself "answering questions that students had about what to expect in applying to and attending law school."
Nicole Lorman (JD '08) was coming to John Marshall from Florida. It was Fagrelius' assistance answering questions about the law school and the city that helped her decide to enroll.
"It was scary walking through those front doors my first semester! I did not know anyone, and I did not know the city, so it was so helpful for me to have someone to go to if I had questions," she recalled. "I frequented the Office of Admission to chat with Erik, whether it was to ask him where a professor's office is, or where the best sandwich shop around school was.
"After my first semester, Erik asked if I wanted to start giving tours to prospective students," she said. "He said that I would be a good person for prospects to talk to because I came from a much smaller city, like many of our students do. I really wanted to be a good student ambassador because of how intimidated I was during my first semester. From there, I started doing orientations, open houses, and I even had a small group of students each semester that I advised during their first semester at John Marshall."
Fagrelius said while the position is voluntary, it is a great extracurricular activity for one's résumé, and student ambassadors are able to make connections by networking with each other, the faculty and alumni.
"It was always helpful to have a working list of active student ambassadors. Although there is a regular schedule for tours, there is always that one person who walks through the door from out-of-town who needs a tour. I would always be able to find a student ambassador who could accommodate the request," he added.
Ed Samuelson was given a tour by a student ambassador as a perspective student, and after his first semester he decided to learn about the program.
"The law school had been generous in offering me a scholarship. Being an ambassador was a way for me to pay back John Marshall, if not with money, at least with my time," he explained.
Samuelson is a regular at the Office of Admission volunteering his time and giving tours. He also has been a volunteer for open house panels and for a law school admissions professionals program.
In appreciation, the Office of Admission has hosted student ambassadors at sporting events and dinners. An outstanding student ambassador is also recognized at commencement.
The Student Ambassador Program is under the direction of Davyell Scott in the Office of Admission. For more information contact him at extension 462, or stop by his desk on the first floor.
Members of the John Marshall Student Ambassadors posed for a group photo in Fall 2007. They are (front row, from left) Noreen Coady, Melinda Usalis, Shanita Golden, Jessica Whitmore, Lisa Johnson, Eileen Collins, Anna Shannon; (second row, from left) Ashley Varterasian, Liz Ortega and Brandy Baker; (third row, from left) Jeff Cheatham, Holly Grosshans and Vaishali Rao; and (top row, from left) Ed Samuelson, David Lipschutz and Kelly Heaney.
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Air Force Commander Addresses Veterans Advocacy Class
Maj. Gen. Robert E. Duignan (third from left), commander of the 4th Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command on March Air Reserve Base, Calif., was welcomed to the law school to address the Veterans Advocacy class. He discussed the current trends returning veterans are facing; the current operational tempo; how the Air Force is able to provide extraordinary medical support and transport on the front lines; and how those initiatives affect service members as they transition back to civilian life. He also highlighted the ways the Veterans Legal Support Center (VLSC) can assist veterans nationwide. Welcoming him to the law school were (from left) VLSC Co-Executive Director and Visiting Assistant Professor Joseph Butler, who teaches the Veterans Advocacy class; third-year student Nicholas Henry, administrative director of the VLSC; Michael Barnicle, lead research and new project assistant of the VLSC; and Brian Clauss, adjunct professor and executive director of the VLSC.
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Baseball Executive Addresses Mitchell Report
Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, was the guest speaker for the April 15 program "Performance Enhancing Drugs in Major League Baseball: The Baseball Union's Perspective on The Mitchell Report" at The John Marshall Law School. The program was co-sponsored by the law school and the Chicago Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association.
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Fair Housing Discussed on ESPN - AM
Representatives from the Fair Housing Legal Clinic (from left) Clinical Professor Damian Ortiz and third-year student Aaron Rosenblatt were interviewed on "Beyond Sports," the public interest segment of ESPN AM 1000. Show hosts (from third from left) Hannah Stanley and Artie Kennedy discussed current fair housing issues relating to racial discrimination, familial status discrimination, disability discrimination and discriminatory practices against senior citizens. They also discussed predatory lending, foreclosures and the future of the housing market.
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Professor of the Year Named
Student Bar Association President Holly Grosshans (right) presents Professor Timothy P. O'Neill (left) with the 2007-2008 Favorite Professor Award. O'Neill was chosen by a vote of graduating third-year students for their favorite professor throughout law school. The award was announced at the annual Spring Fling.
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Tax Student Honored by Chicago Bar Association
Mark Banks-Golub (left) representing the Tax Section of the Chicago Bar Association honored Belinda Wright (center), the John Marshall student with the highest grade point average from students in the tax program. Joining them are Associate Dean and Professor Kathryn Kennedy (right), director of the Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits.
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Loyola Professor Is Guest Speaker
Professor Timothy P. O'Neill (left) and Dean John Corkery (right) welcomed Loyola University Chicago Professor Steven Ramirez (center) as the guest speaker April 21 for the Faculty Scholarship Roundtable Series. His presentation was "Law and Macroeconomics: An Inevitable Movement in Its Infancy."
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Schedule of Activities
May 5, 2008
- Faculty Teaching Effectiveness, Room 503, 9 a.m.
May 6, 2008
- Free Coffee in the Library, 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
May 8, 2008
- Free Coffee in the Library, 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
May 9 2008
- Lawyering Skills for ADR, Room 1200, 9 a.m.
- Lawyering Skills for ADR Reception, Room 3East, 5 p.m.
May 12, 2008
- Center Directors' Meeting, Room 1102, noon
- Employee Insurance Information Meeting, Room 1200, 2 p.m.
May 14, 2008
- Board of Trustees, 3East Courtroom, 12p.m.
- Kaplan PMBR 6-Day Course Make-Up, Room 216, 4:30 p.m.
May 15, 2008
- Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee Meeting, Room 1101, 12:30 p.m.
May 18, 2008
- Commencement, Sheraton Chicago Hotel, 3 p.m.
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Deans' Activities
Associate Dean Rory Smith
Activities
He represented The John Marshall Law School at the 2008 Annual Meeting of Law School Diversity Professionals at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law April 24 and 25, 2008. He shared information on the law school's National Diversity Undergraduate Mock Trial Competition and other John Marshall outreach programs. Discussions focused diversity recruitment and retention, and the effects of the newly adopted American Bar Association Bar Passage Standard on Diversity Recruitment
On March 14, 15 and 16, 2008, Smith shared information on The John Marshall Law School, the law school experience and practicing law students at the Judicial Branch of the 59th Assembly of Illinois YMCA Youth and Government in Springfield, Ill. The program brings more than 900 Illinois high school students to Springfield to take on the roles of the state's senators, legislative representatives, attorneys, appellate and supreme court justices. Going to the meeting brought back memories for Smith who participated as a high school student and was elected the first Youth Supreme Court Chief Justice of the Illinois YMCA Youth and Government Program.
On April 9, 2008, Smith spoke on a panel for the City of Memphis Diversity Developer Incubator Program on Real Estate Law at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. He lectured on the legal issues and legal practice associated with residential and commercial real estate transactions. He was invited to participate by the City of Memphis Law Division's Office of Contract Compliance. The law division's Developer Incubator Program is designed to prepare the city's current and future traditionally under-represented developers for planned real estate activity and initiatives in the City of Memphis.
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Faculty Activity and Publications
Clinical Professor F. Willis Caruso
Activities
He judged four mock fair housing trials during a Fair Housing Month program April 23 hosted by the Chicago Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), together with the Realtor Partnership in Fair Housing. The program was part of the association's annual fair housing event designed to educate realtors about how to handle possible illegal actions they may encounter related to the Fair Housing Act.
He was a presenter and a panelist at the Fifth Annual Fair Housing Conference "The Pursuit of Fair Housing: A Community-Wide Responsibility," of the Fair Housing Center of Southwestern Michigan on April 18, 2008. Caruso was on a panel with Chief Judge Richard Santoni, 8th District Court; Tim Meulenberg, manager, Code Administration Division Community Planning & Development, City of Kalamazoo; and Kim Tuck, chief building official, City of Battle Creek, Mich. The panel answered questions relating to the interplay between the Michigan statutes in the ordinances of the two municipalities as they affect fair housing and the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. Caruso also gave a fair housing update presentation.
Professor Michael P. Seng
Activities
He spoke at this year's Allerton Conference "Civility Initiatives for Civil Litigation" on April 25 at the Starved Rock Lodge. He spoke on First Amendment limitations on civility initiatives. He specifically addressed a recent Michigan case which held the Michigan civility rules unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. He also reviewed the law on the ability of judges to punish lawyers for contempt of court. The Allerton Conference, sponsored by the Civil Practice and Procedure Section of the Illinois State Bar Association, is attended by approximately 80 lawyers, members of the Illinois Supreme Court and the judiciary.
Adjunct Professor Hon. James A. Shapiro
Publications
His article, "Comity of Errors: When Federal Sentencing Guidelines Ignore State Law Decriminalizing Sentences," published in the 2008 Akron Law Review, argues that federal sentencing judges should discount, as a matter of federal-state comity, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines' treatment of non-convictions under state law as convictions under federal law. In preparing the article, Shapiro's "comity" discussion comes directly from the Federal Courts class he has taught at John Marshall the past five years. He also relied on his experiences as an assistant U.S. attorney and a member of the Federal Defender Panel to prepare the rest of his argument.
Professor Debra Stark
Publications
The textbook, Commercial Real Estate Law: A Project and Skills Oriented Approach, which she co-authored with David Cameron, James Durham and Thomas White, has been adopted at 27 different law schools, including in the Chicago area: Northwestern University School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School and De Paul University School of Law.
Her article, "Does Fraud Pay? An Empirical Analysis of Attorney's Fees Provisions In Consumer Fraud Statutes" co-authored with Professor Jessica M. Choplin of DePaul University, will be published in Volume 56 of the Cleveland State Law Review. Professor Stark thanks the faculty, staff, students and alumni of The John Marshall Law School for their invaluable assistance in collecting the data for this article.
Professor Mark E. Wojcik
Activities
He was elected to the national Board of Directors of the International Law Students Association (ILSA).
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