GV PS

2008 Law School Summer Boot Camp for Students of Color

From the JD Project:

2008 Law School Summer Boot Camp for Students of Color

Having more lawyers of color is essential to the well-being of communities of color. In fact, a recent National Jurist Article, a journal for law students, talked about the disappearing black and Latino law student. This is particularly problematic. The power in this country is held by those who control the money and the law. The decreasing number of black and Latino attorneys is in fact a decrease in power in our community. The JD Project is committed to reversing that trend. One our projects is to assure that entering law students of color do well in law school, particularly their first year. This is important so that they can maximize their career options and be prepared to give back to their community with legal knowledge, skills and support.

Everyone admitted to law school has demonstrated similar intelligence, commitment and effort. What distinguishes "A" students is study skills and habits, access to legal information, analytical and test-taking skills All these are skills and abilities that can be learned and improved on. In our more than 35 years of experience of helping students-of-color succeed, we have seen the impact that intense preparation can have on a student's ability to excel. In a competitive environment like law school, where grades are given based on how a person performs compared to the other students in the class, it is essential the entering law students-of-color be appropriately prepared.

The Summer Boot Camp is an online distance learning program designed to provide that intense preparation. The Boot Camp teachs students to study effectively for law school, introduces students to the writing, thinking and test-taking skills needed to excel on law school exams, and builds a network of academic support that crosses school boundaries. The participants will work on the study skills, strategies and techniques they will need to achieve their goals as law students.

This is a 100 hour online program. It is $600 (Compared to $2000 for a 40 hour program by BarBri).

Admission is on a rolling basis till the program is filled. Because of the intense nature of this program it is important that students start as early in the summer as possible, preferrably by June 1st

For more information, contact Ms. Brenda Randall, Volunteer Director and Admission Coordinator, admin@thejdproject.org.

ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship

The American Bar Association is seeking applicants for the Legal Opportunity Scholarship. Here is some information about the scholarship from the ABA:

As part of President Paul's initiative to increase diversity in the legal profession and at his request, the ABA Board of Governors, at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta, established the ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund. The Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund, established within the Fund for Justice and Education, is intended to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to attend law school and to provide financial assistance to those in need.

The goals of President Paul's diversity initiative are to increase minority participation in the legal profession by encouraging members of racial and ethnic minorities to consider law as a career and to provide increased opportunities for minorities already in the profession. Financial aid to minority law students is an essential part of the initiative.

The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarships were awarded beginning with the 2000-2001 academic year. The Scholarship Fund awards $5,000 of financial assistance annually to each scholarship recipient attending an ABA-accredited law school. Assuming the recipient achieves satisfactory performance in law school, an award made to an entering freshman may be renewed for two additional years, resulting in financial assistance totaling $15,000 during his or her time in law school. A scholarship committee, comprised of representatives from ABA entities, the national minority bar associations and at-large members, has been created to screen the applicants for the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund.

For more information or an application, see the scholarship website.

The deadline is March 1.

Free Practice GRE, LSAT

On February 16 , Kaplan will be offering a campus-wide opportunity for students to take a free practice GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, DAT and PCAT administered under simulated testing conditions.

Kaplan’s Practice Test, is a terrific opportunity for prospective business, graduate, law, medical and dental students to answer a critical question, "If I took the exam today, how would I score?"

Last year, tens of thousands of Kaplan Practice Test participants assessed their test-taking skills while learning valuable strategies to help them ace the real test. Since admission to law, business, grad, medical and dental school is fierce, a high score on your entrance exam can give you an edge.

We would like to invite you to participate in the 2008 Kaplan Practice Test taking place at Grand Valley State University on February 16. To register for Kaplan’s Practice Test, you may call 1-800-KAP-TEST today or visit us online at www.kaptest.com/practice.

We look forward to providing you with this valuable service.

Sincerely,

Julie Ryntz
Area Director
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
product information kaptest.com
517-332-2539
Cell: 616-340-4221
julie.ryntz@kaplan.com

Historical Perspectives on Human Rights and International Justice

Historical Perspectives on Human Rights and International Justice

Lecture by Elizabeth Borgwardt (Associate professor of history at Washington University in St. Louis; co-winner of the OAH Merle Curti Award for the best book in the history of ideas and the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize for the best first book on the history of U.S. foreign relations, awarded by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations; Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer in Germany during spring 2008).

Wednesday, January 30, 4:30 pm in Cook-DeWitt. Reception and book signing to follow in Niemeyer Hall.

Co-sponsored by Honors College, History and Political Science.

Local Pre-law Diversity Scholarships

Warner Norcross & Judd offers two scholarship programs to promote diversity in the legal profession in the State of Michigan.

Click here for the page with both scholarships.

Minority Scholarship Program
The Firm has a Minority Scholarship Program which annually awards $5,000 to a law student, $2,000 to a paralegal student and $1,000 to a legal secretarial student. Winners are chosen by the Firm and Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Interested students should print an application and submit it by mail to the Grand Rapids Community Foundation (209C Waters Building, 161 Ottawa Avenue, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, 616.454.1751. The deadline for applying is April 15, 2008.

LSAT PREPARATION COURSE SCHOLARSHIP
The Firm recently introduced its LSAT Preparation Course Scholarship program. Each year, Warner Norcross will award up to five scholarships, maximum of $1,500 each, to minority college students in their junior year to attend a Kaplan LSAT preparation course. The scholarships will enable minority students who have an interest in attending law school to be well prepared to take the Law School Admissions Test.

Interested students should print, complete and submit the LSAT Preparation Course Scholarship application form to: WNJ LSAT Scholarship, Attention: Ms. Robin Keith, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, 900 Fifth Third Center, 111 Lyon Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2487. The deadline for applications is May 30, 2008.

For more on diversity on the legal profession and diversity scholarships, see this post.

Study Abroad Guide for PLS and IR

Professor Diven has created a very helpful Study Abroad guide for Political Science and International Relations. Please follow the link to download in Word format.
Download study_abroad.doc

Hate Crime Against the LGBT Community

From Professor Kim Roberts:

The School of Communications is sponsoring a panel discussion on Thursday,
October 25 at 6pm at the Amway Grand Hotel, Governors Room.

The topic of the discussion is hate crime against the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender community. The panel will discuss what our local
community is doing -- or not doing -- to prevent or respond to hate crimes
due to sexual orientation. It will also offer reflections on how hate crime
affects all of us and how we as members of a community contribute to
intolerance.

Our panelists include: Mayor George Heartwell, Reverend Doug Van Doren,
Randy Flood, Christine Yared, and Sean Kosofsky. Dan Spaulding will be
moderator of the event.

This panel discussion is in conjunction with an exhibit that I have
currently installed at Open Concept Gallery. I have included information on
the exhibit as well as the panel. For more information and video excerpts,
please visit my website at: http://www.KimRobertsStudio.com

The exhibition lends itself well to groups, so if you are interested in a
class visit, please write to Zora Carrier, the curator of Open Concept
Gallery at: info@openconceptgallery.org

We hope to see you there!

Kim Roberts
Associate Professor of Film & Video Production
School of Communications
Grand Valley State University
Office: 103 Lake Ontario Hall
Phone: 616-331-3607

Email: robertsk@gvsu.edu

http://www.KimRobertsStudio.com

The Hard Road to a European Constitution

The Hard Road to a European Constitution

A public lecture by
Professor Francesco Clementi
University of Perugia, Italy

Wednesday, October 24, 12:00-12:50 p.m.
114 Lake Michigan Hall

Dr. Clementi is visiting through our faculty exchange with the University of Perugia. Perugia is the sister city of Grand Rapids.

From GVSU to Times Square, NYC

From GVSU to Times Square, NYC

Meet Autumn Montague, graduate of GVSU and Howard Law School
At the Law Society General Meeting
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Time: 9:00pm - 10:00pm
LOH 164 (Lake Ontario Hall)
Allendale, MI

Autumn will be discussing law school, finding a career path,
and her experiences at Howard Law and Skadden.

Autumn M. Montague is an associate in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She currently practices in the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Ms. Montague received her B.A. from Grand Valley State University in Political Science and Spanish in 2002. She received her Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in 2006. As a law student at Howard, Ms. Montague was the Executive Publications Editor of the Howard Law Journal, the President of La Alianza, and the Treasurer of Epsilon Sigma Iota Sorority, Inc. Ms. Montague was a Bert Price Scholar at Grand Valley and a Merit Fellow at Howard. Her article, “Do Not Disturb: Defining the Meaning of Privacy Under the Freedom of Information Act.” was published in the Howard Law Journal in 2006.

Jefferson and Separation of Church and State

The Federalist Society at Thomas M. Cooley Law School invites GVSU students to:

Thomas Jefferson and the Separation of Church and State, a presentation by Dr. Daniel Dreisbach of American University.

Thursday, Nov. 1
Noon - lunch in Room 523
Program to follow in Room 406
Grand Rapids Campus
111 Commerce SW

Dreisbach is author of Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (New York University Press, 2002) and Real Threat and Mere Shadow: Religious Liberty and the First Amendment (Crossway Books, 1987). He is co-editor of and contributor to The Sacred Rights of Conscience (Liberty Fund, forthcoming) , The Founders on God and Government (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), Religion and Political Culture in Jefferson's Virginia (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), and Religion and Politics in the Early Republic: Jasper Adams and the Church-State Debate (University Press of Kentucky, 1996), which was recently cited in the U.S. Supreme Court case Van Orden v. Perry.