Bowen Law Student Attends Distinguished Lecture and Discussion with Supreme Court Justice
Keeli Wallace, a graduating law student at the Bowen School of Law, president of the school’s Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA) and an executive board member of the National Latina/o Law Student Association, recently visited the United States Supreme Court for a distinguished lecture and discussion with the United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The trip, arranged by the Dominican Bar Association, benefited more than 80 law students from 13 different law schools.
鈥淎s an affinity bar association, we recognize the important role we play in creating meaningful and prestigious educational experiences for our students,鈥� the association said in an Instagram post. 鈥淎s the first Latina and third woman to serve on the [United States] Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor serves as a beacon of hope and source of inspiration for our students and general membership.鈥�
Students who attended were welcomed to the United States Supreme Court where they received a distinguished lecture by a staff member, followed by a Q&A session with Justice Sotomayor. Afterwards, the students received a tour of the court鈥檚 chambers, and later participated in a discussion with the Supreme Court Justice.
鈥淭he biggest thing that I learned from Justice Sotomayor is that you shouldn鈥檛 disqualify yourself from anything,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淪he was very honest with us, sharing that she didn鈥檛 have the expectations or goals of being a supreme court justice when she was in high school or college, but she kept pushing herself and never looked at something and thought she couldn鈥檛 do it, and I think that鈥檚 an important skill to learn and mental muscle to develop.鈥�
Wallace described the experience as surreal, expressing that she hopes it鈥檚 the first of many similar opportunities for Bowen students.
鈥淭he experience was almost surreal,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淎s a first generation American and a first-generation law student studying in Arkansas, opportunities like this can often feel out of reach. I was the only person who attended who was not from the Tri-State area. In fact, I鈥檓 the only person who attended from the Southern region, so it was very important to me to be able to attend and represent not only the south, but Arkansas, and all communities that I鈥檓 apart of,鈥� said Wallace. 鈥淚 hope this is the first of many trips of its kind for Bowen鈥檚 students.鈥�
Wallace鈥檚 trip was sponsored by two of Arkansas鈥� largest and most prominent law firms and longtime supporters of Bowen, Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP and Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, PLLC.
鈥淔riday and Mitchell have been longtime, reliable supporters of LALSA,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淲ith their support, in addition to experiences like this, we鈥檝e been able to send our students to conferences all over the country, participate in mock-trial competitions, and award the highest number of scholarships than any other Bowen student organization each year. We wouldn鈥檛 be able to do any of this without their support.鈥�