APILSA Named Student Organization of the Year
The Asian/Pacific Islander Law Students Association was named 2020 Student Organization of the Year at UCLA School of Law’s sixth annual Student Leadership Breakfast, which streamed live on May 2.
In presenting the award to APILSA co-chairs Constance Chan ’21 and Brendan Pratt ’21, Student Bar Association President Alyson Tocicki ’20 said that the group’s vast array of programs and advocacy efforts stood out in a year when UCLA Law students submitted a record number of nominations.
Among other initiatives, APILSA hosted a phonathon supporting improved voting access for immigrants, redistricting reform and restrictions on private prisons that profit from deportation. Members of the group visited the chambers of Judge Jacqueline Nguyen ’91 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a UCLA Law alumna who was the first Asian-American woman to serve on the federal appellate bench. They organized Mimosas and Affirmations events for survivors of sexual assault. And they mobilized a campaign to address xenophobia and racism in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, drafting an open letter that drew national support and will be published in two academic journals.
Five graduating students were honored with the 2020 UCLA Law Enhancement Award for their substantial contributions to the law school.
- Sam Davies ’20, vice president of the SBA, was cited for launching the Off the Record event series dedicated to promoting diverse student voices, and for his leadership of the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs and the Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law.
- Andrea Del-Carmen Gonzalez ’20 received recognition for her work as a 1L class representative, legal research and writing advisor, moot court competitor, co-chair of the Latinx Law Students Association and co-editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review.
- Zalondria Graham ’20 was lauded for her work as co-chair of the Black Law Students Association, where she spearheaded wide array of impactful events, and for her service on the National Black Law Journal and in the El Centro Reentry Legal Clinic.
- Hannah Pollack ’20 was commended for leading the UCLA Women’s Law Journal and Law Women of UCLA and her service to UCLA Law Women LEAD, as well as for the energy that she committed to Wellness Wednesday and Real Music events.
- Jaylin Stevenson ’20 was applauded for her tenures as co-chair of OUTLaw, the Womyn of Color Collective and the El Centro LetsGo! Liberation Clinic, plus her work on the Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture, and Resistance.
Tocicki, Davies and other outgoing SBA board members — John Rigby ’20 (external vice president), David Polyakov ’21 (treasurer) and Madison Way ’21 (secretary) — were honored for their outstanding service. Way will return as vice president for the 2020-21 school year, with incoming president Adrian Rios ’21.
Distinguished alumna Marisa Hernández-Stern ’10, president of the Mexican American Bar Association and one of the state’s leading civil rights advocates, offered inspirational remarks. She is a deputy attorney general in the Worker Rights and Fair Labor Bureau of the California Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section, and she previously won a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award from the UCLA Academic Senate for her outstanding work.