Law school honors top graduates for scholarship, leadership, service


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Law honored more than 170 graduates at a hooding ceremony Saturday, May 18. During the ceremony, eight students received awards for distinguishing themselves in scholarship, leadership and service to the law school and the community.

The recipients:

  • Michael Andrusak, Salina, Class of 1949 Leadership Award
  • Ebonie Davis, Kansas City, Kan., Janean Meigs Memorial Award
  • Ashley Dillon, Orinda, Calif., Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement
  • Joy Isaacs, Topeka, Walter Hiersteiner Outstanding Service Award
  • Eric Sader, Salina, Robert F. Bennett Award
  • Joe Schremmer, Derby, Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award
  • Isabel Segarra, Austin, Texas, Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award
  • Henry Thomas, Overland Park, Class of 1949 Leadership Award

The award winners were part of a class composed of 174 recipients of the Juris Doctor, seven Doctor of Juridical Science graduates and two Master of Laws in Elder Law graduates.

Also honored during the ceremony was Uma Outka, associate professor of law, who received the 2013 Moreau Award. The award is given annually to the faculty member who, in the eyes of law students, has been particularly helpful in advising.

Funds for the awards are managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

Student award recipients are listed below by hometown.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Overland Park

Henry ThomasHenry Thomas was one of two recipients of the Class of 1949 Leadership Award, given to the student who has contributed most significantly to the overall experience of students in Green Hall. Thomas raised hundreds of dollars and gathered hundreds of books for children at surrounding hospitals and collaborated to create a successful Diversity Banquet during his term as president of the Asian Law Students Association. He spent a year serving indigent clients in Douglas County as a participant in the Legal Aid Clinic and three years as a Student Ambassador, advising and educating prospective law students. During the 2012-13 academic year, Thomas served as editor-in-chief of the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy. Thomas is the son of Zach and Mary Thomas and a graduate of Rockhurst High School and Marquette University.

SALINE COUNTY
From Salina
Michael AndrusakMichael Andrusak was one of two recipients of the Class of 1949 Leadership Award, given to the student who has contributed most significantly to the overall experience of students in Green Hall. Andrusak served two years as president of the Student Bar Association, reorganizing its structure to encourage continuity of its leadership. He spearheaded fundraising events and spoke at new student orientation, welcoming students and acclimating them to law school. He attended Board of Governors and other similar meetings, ensuring that students enjoyed a voice in law school governance.  And, of course, he organized events, such as football tailgates, that allowed students to socialize and build relationships to last well beyond law school. Andrusak is the son of Janet Andrusak, was home-schooled through high school, and graduated from Pepperdine University.

Eric SaderEric Sader received the Robert F. Bennett Award, recognizing a graduate whose undergraduate degree is from a Kansas university or college and who has demonstrated leadership qualities through public service. Sader graduated with a joint degree in law and social work. For two years, he served as a resident assistant in the law school’s Journey to J.D. program.  He is a student representative on the board of directors for Ecumenical Campus Ministries at KU and, in 2011, was named one of KU’s Men of Merit in recognition of his role modeling a positive definition of masculinity through action and leadership. Sader has served as chief justice of the university’s Student Court of Appeals and an audio-reader for the visually impaired. He was recently selected as the new executive director of Jana’s Campaign, an organization dedicated to reducing gender and relationship violence. Sader is the son of Dale Sader and Mary Cook and a graduate of Salina High School South and McPherson College.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Derby
Joe SchremmerJoe Schremmer received the Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award, given to the graduate who has most distinguished himself or herself in the combined areas of scholarship, leadership and service. Schremmer graduated with a joint degree in law and business, and his grades were among the best in his law school class. He served two years as a Lawyering Skills teaching assistant and two years in the Volunteer Tax Assistance Program, providing tax preparation assistance for low-income Kansans. His scholarly note, “Avoidable Fraccident: An Argument Against Strict Liability for Hydraulic Fracturing,” was selected for publication in the Kansas Law Review before he became the publication’s editor-in-chief. Schremmer is the son of Richard and Janice Schremmer and a graduate of Derby High School and KU. 

SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka
Joy IsaacsJoy Isaacs received the Walter Hiersteiner Outstanding Service Award, given to the graduate whose service to his or her fellow students demonstrates the greatest promise for contribution to the legal profession and society. As a Shook, Hardy & Bacon Scholar, Isaacs mentored members of the first-year class to help improve their academic performance. She founded the law school’s 3-to-1 mentorship program, which matches successful upper-level students with entering first-year students. Isaacs served on the Kansas Law Review and still found time to coach volleyball at The Barstow Middle School. Isaacs is the daughter of Stan Noakes and Linda Noakes and a graduate of Washburn Rural High School and KU. 

WYANDOTTE COUNTY
From Kansas City, Kan.
Ebonie DavisEbonie Davis received the Janean Meigs Memorial Award, given to the student who has demonstrated a caring spirit in service to the students of the law school or the community at large. Davis served two years as a teaching assistant in the Journey to J.D. program designed to mentor and encourage diverse young people to consider law school and pursue legal opportunities in the region. She also served as president of the Black Law Students Association. In that role, she spearheaded BLSA’s annual Thanksgiving food drive and organized Thurgood Marshall Law Day, which annually hosts dozens of local high school students. She also serves as a mentor for the MODELS Mentoring Program, a community organization for teenage girls ages 12-17. And she has made these contributions to school and community while also caring for her own family, which includes two sons, ages 3 and 6. Davis is the daughter of Barbara White and a graduate of Wyandotte High School and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

CALIFORNIA
From Orinda
Ashley DillonAshley Dillon received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement, which goes to the graduating student selected by the faculty as having made the most significant contribution toward overall legal scholarship. Dillon’s scholarly note about the Kansas Uniform Trade Secrets Act was published in Volume 60 of the Kansas Law Review. She also served as executive note and comment editor on the Law Review and a chief justice of the Moot Court Council. Dillon spent two years as a Lawyering Skills teaching assistant, mentoring lawyering students in the first-year. She has accomplished all of this while maintaining an outstanding grade point average throughout all three years of her studies. Dillon is the daughter of Kent and Lynn Dillon and a graduate of Miramonte High School and the University of Missouri.

TEXAS
From Austin
Isabel SegarraIsabel Segarra received the Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award, given to the graduate who has most distinguished him or herself through leadership in the law school. A passionate environmental advocate, Segarra reinvigorated KU’s Environmental Law Society, serving as president during the 2011-12 academic year.  As president, she brought various environmental law attorneys, including representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, to Green Hall for career panels and other educational functions; she lobbied the administration to stop purchasing Styrofoam products; and she encouraged faculty, staff and student participation in the Lights Out Energy Competition among different units on campus. This year, Segarra moderated a panel discussion on the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples during KU’s annual Tribal Law and Government Conference. She has written for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and was a member of the Jessup International Moot Court team that qualified for the international finals. Segarra is the daughter of Dolores Treviño and a graduate of Liberal Arts and Science Academy and Texas A&M University.

Thu, 05/23/2013

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Mindie Paget

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