This November, Kansas Law Review co-hosted a symposium with the Tribal Law & Government Center on “Strategic Litigation Advancing Indigenous Rights.” The symposium featured scholars and advocates from across the country who presented on how indigenous communities have used legal action to protect their rights and sovereignty. For example, Sarah Deer, a University Distinguished Professor, presented her research on legal avenues for combatting sexual violence against Indigenous women on reservations.
Professor Sarah Deer at the Strategic Litigation Advancing Indigenous Rights symposium
The Kansas Law Review hosts a symposium each year that focuses on a specific area of law, and the symposium is primarily organized by the students on the board of the Law Review. The 3L Symposium Editor, this year, Emma Leonard, has the primary task of organizing the event, including coordinating all invited speakers, planning the entire day and eventually serving as editor for the volume in which the scholars’ research will be published. Other Law Review members assist with tasks leading up to the symposium and contribute to editorial work for the published volume.
Symposium guests
The symposium is an excellent example of the great experience students get from working as a Kansas Law Review or Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy editor. The Journal of Law & Public Policy also hosts an annual symposium which will take place in spring 2025. Working on either publication is a great opportunity to get exposed to important research that legal scholars and advocates are doing.
Students interested in participating in the Law Review or the Journal of Law & Public Policy must complete a “write-on” competition after their 1L year. Students are given about two weeks to complete a scholarly paper that exemplifies their legal writing skills, which will be important to their work as an editor. Current members of the board of each publication then anonymously review the papers to select next year’s staff editors.
It can be a difficult process to complete immediately after you finish your first year of law school, but it is definitely worth it! Students interested in participating will get plenty of notice during their spring semester on both the competition itself and the role of working as a staff editor. The role primarily entails writing your own scholarly paper called a “comment” and editing the research articles of legal scholars set to be published.
As a current staff editor for Kansas Law Review, this has been my favorite “extracurricular” thus far in law school. It has helped me improve my legal writing, get exposed to new areas of research and has also helped me get to know other students who I would not have otherwise met.
Mid-November is always a stressful time for the students of Green Hall. With less than a month until finals, the realities of test preparation become unavoidable. For first-year students, this is a new kind of test and something that can be difficult to get comfortable with. Second-year students are as busy as they’ve ever been in their academic careers, and third-year students are beginning to reckon with impending BAR prep.
This year, the world outside Green has contributed to the anxiety brewing inside. Law students learn in great detail the impact that political developments have on the legal system, and every day they read cases that demonstrate what kind of real-world impact those legal developments have on the American public. The post-election environment in the building is one of uncertainty, apprehension and anxiety.
However, blossoming within that stressful ecosystem has been a genuinely exciting development. The student organizations, founded and run by busy students nonetheless committed to social and professional development and community, were severely damaged four years ago during the pandemic. For several years, we have been trying to foster the development of new organizations to fill the cultural and social void left by COVID.
In the last two weeks, I have been approached by multiple students looking for advice and guidance on starting new groups. Whether they are action-oriented, politically motivated or just searching for community, the students of Green Hall have responded to the feeling of apprehension with diligence and persistence. What was once a relatively limited group of disparate organizations is growing into a vibrant community of diverse interests and identities. I, like many, am dealing with high stress, both academic and personal, but I have been struck by the response from my fellow students. No matter what the next four years may hold, I am confident that the current generation of Jayhawks will enter the legal world with experience and determination. There are good things yet to come.
As both a tax attorney and the dean of the KU School of Law, Stephen Mazza knows something about taxable income and funding the school.
“We don’t want to get into the business of giving out tax advice,” Mazza joked. “But the tax benefits of transferring minimum distributions from an IRA to a charity, like the School of Law, can be significant.”
The IRA qualified charitable distribution (QCD) presents a valuable giving opportunity. If you’re 70½ or older, you can direct a portion of your IRA distribution directly to charity — up to $105,000 per year — without it being reported as income. For those over the age of 73, this QCD counts toward your required minimum distribution (RMD).
“Donating your QCD is a straightforward way to reduce your tax burden while increasing our ability to teach our students,” Mazza said.
Donors can use their QCD to create endowed named funds, support the School of Law with unrestricted dollars or even leverage later through a beneficiary designation.
Martha Coffman, L’79, has settled into retirement after an established legal career that included opening her own firm, working at the KU School of Law as assistant director of the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project (now known as the Project for Innocence) and serving as general counsel in the Kansas Supreme Court’s Office of Judicial Administration.
“For several years I have given small donations to the law school to support its work educating new lawyers,” Coffman said. “I am grateful for the legal education I received and for the many friends I made in the process.”
Coffman worked with Kristin Shore at KU Endowment to donate her QCD to the scholarship fund at the School of Law.
“When I considered making distributions from my IRA, I immediately thought of the KU School of Law,” Coffman said. “I want to support current law students facing financial and other challenges like those I experienced in law school. Although my donation is not large, I hope it will help current students reach their goal to be an attorney. I have asked that my donation be used to support scholarships and the law school’s program preparing students for the bar examination. The KU School of Law and KU Endowment made it easy to make my gift.”
If you’d like assistance or have questions about making an IRA QCD gift, please contact Kristin Shore at KU Endowment (785-832-7341). Checks must come from the IRA custodian and be made payable to KU Endowment to benefit the School of Law.
This week especially, many students have been struggling with how to balance the very real need for self- and community care with the equally necessary and unavoidable grind. Classes are tough, work is hard and finding friends and support can be a real challenge. It’s important to be kind to others, and it’s important to be kind to yourself. Here are a few small ways to effectively balance life and the never-ending workload.
1. Set your work hours.
This one is probably the most difficult, but in my experience, it is the best way to stay sane. Many students will talk about treating law school like an 8 to 5 (and in fact, one Ambassador has already made a blog post about it!), where you show up early, stay a little late, and get as much done as possible. It’s a popular tactic for many, especially students who are not used to school being their entire life again. Doing this allows students to leave work at the door – or even all the way back in Green Hall. Creating this boundary between schoolwork and home life can be crucial in stress management, and for me personally, helps make prioritizing much easier. The subjects that I really struggle with I keep at school, where I can talk to classmates and professors; the subjects that I truly enjoy, I still try my best to keep at school, but I certainly don’t mind reading about Fourth Amendment violations as bedtime stories.
2. Know when to walk away.
No one is perfect, and no one has unlimited patience. It’s important to know when you’ve hit a wall. This goes for schoolwork and for social outings. When you’ve gotten about as far as you can get with work for one class, sometimes it’s better to pivot to another subject instead of forcing yourself through. If you’re slogging your way through a conversation with someone who makes you feel disrespected or uncomfortable, you are not obligated to stay! If your situation stinks, you can hit the bricks. In this atmosphere, it often feels like optics are the most important thing. Everyone wants to be the smartest, or the most hardworking, or the nicest, and if no one else has told you, please let me – none of those things are more important than your well-being.
3. Eat!
This sounds obvious and silly, but many students prioritize reading just one more page or revising their brief one more time over stopping for a snack. And I get it – creating a reward system is pretty intuitive for many of us, and food is a fantastic motivator. It can also feel tough to pull ourselves away from our work when we feel like we’re in “the groove,” whether that’s classwork or club-oriented organizing. Often, whatever we’re doing just feels more important than having a full meal. But nutrition is not only going to keep you going, it’s going to make you a much more efficient machine. Take care of yourself.
As an out-of-state student from Virginia, I began to explore the Midwest and all the unique places to visit in Lawrence as a 1L. One of my favorite things to do is travel, whether in my home state of Virginia, saving up to visit family in Scotland or camping with my family and recently rescued dog, Agnes. My most recent adventure entailed a five-hour drive to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, with my co-pilot, Agnes.
My wanderlust tendency largely began in college. Traveling has been one of my outlets from school since my senior year of college. A few weeks into law school, I knew my travel bug would be a way for me to maintain balance, even if I merely daydreamed about future travel plans.
Keegan and her dog, Agnes, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
During my first year of law school, classes started out with a bang and before I knew it, October rolled around and fall break of my 1L year was on the horizon. I had the unique opportunity to travel with KU Law to Wichita for the 24 hours in the Wichita program. Through this program, I met with dozens of attorneys to speak about their experiences in the legal profession and in Wichita’s legal community all while seeing the expansive Flint Hills and city of Wichita.
Fast forward a year, after completing numerous first-year law school exams, memos and briefs and an internship with the U.S. Department of Transportation, I found myself edging towards another fall break as I learned about hearsay and witness impeachment in Evidence, and personal jurisdiction in Jurisdiction. I knew I wanted to spend time outside of Lawrence over break and explore more parts of the Midwest while in law school. As any law student would do, I researched where to find the best fall foliage within a five-hour drive from Lawrence and EUREKA!
Eureka Springs, Arkansas, popped up in my fall break search. As I delved into the history and community of this quaint town, I knew where I’d be spending part of my fall break. Agnes and I ventured on a five-hour trip, stopping in Fort Scott, Kansas, and the four corners to visit a new state for me: Oklahoma. After arriving in Eureka Springs, we did a self-guided tour of the numerous springs throughout the town as fall leaves fell to the ground. We walked the streets of Eureka Springs, finding bookshops, art galleries and coffee shops. After a wee bit of midterm prep, Agnes and I got a coffee and went to a local fall festival, driving along the mountainous roads filled with vibrant reds, oranges and yellows. While my trip encompassed two days, the colorful drive, kind people and memories allowed me to reset and realize the benefits of fitting in a community, even if one is a bit of a misfit.
A veteran’s journey from military officer to KU Law student
Stacy Zaleski, 2L Photo courtesy of Stacy Zaleski
While most of her classmates were studying and participating in extra-curricular activities in high school and undergrad, KU Law 2L Stacy Zaleski was stationed in Korea, Virginia, Colorado and Hawaii. With two degrees and a decade of military service under her belt, the Army veteran decided there was only one logical next step: law school.
Before KU Law, Zaleski held various roles in the U.S. Army, including logistics officer and executive officer, serving both domestically and internationally. Her connection to the military runs deep, beginning with her involvement in her high school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) and continuing through her participation in the ROTC programs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).
In 2012, Zaleski commissioned out of UC Davis as a second lieutenant. In 2016, she met her now husband in Virginia and decided to tie the knot after just three months due to the sporadic nature of military stationing. Now, eight years later, they reside in Manhattan, Kansas—one as an Army Major and the other as a law student.
Zaleski has always been driven by a desire to help others. During her time in the Army, she often assisted fellow soldiers with personal challenges.
“One of my favorite things in the whole world is to help people and to be a mentor,” she said. “My favorite part about being in the Army was when soldiers had questions or issues with their families or their jobs, and we could just sit and talk, and I could offer them advice.”
This passion for helping others pushed her towards a future in the public interest field, but it was her eagerness to learn that ultimately led her to law school.
Zaleski studied linguistics at UC Davis and earned an MBA in logistics online while in the Army. Because she completed grad school online, she felt jealous of students who were able to attend in-person classes and events.
While stationed in Hawaii, Zaleski decided to retire from the military. She always had the thought of going to law school in the back of her mind but didn’t find it feasible during her military career. With her newly open schedule and the GI Bill’s promise of a free degree, Zaleski decided she would start preparing for law school.
Zaleski and her husband Photo courtesy of Stacy Zaleski
“I realized I could do it, and that I could continue in a professional setting in a competitive career. I could use my brain again, and I could have a job that could carry me through the rest of my life,” she said. “The Army breaks you physically after several years, but you can be a lawyer for a really, really, really long time.”
Before choosing KU Law, Zaleski applied to 34 law schools—not from indecision but due to her husband’s unpredictable military assignments. Fortunately, the Midwestern stars aligned when she was accepted to KU Law, and her husband secured a position at Fort Riley.
For Zaleski, the stresses of law school pale in comparison to her military experiences.
“These youngins don’t know. It wasn’t a nine to five. It was whenever the Army said you wake up and go to PT at the butt crack of dawn to whenever you’re done with the day. Law school is a blessing compared to it,” Zaleski said.
During her first year at KU Law, Zaleski, like many other law students, felt overwhelmed. This didn’t stop her from joining a few extracurriculars like the Kansas Law School Military & Veterans Society and Women in Law.
“It’s kind of silly but the Army didn’t really care and would say ‘we’re all equal’ and had some basic female mentorship programs,” she said. “I’m the 2L rep for the Women in Law program which I’m really proud of – to be a part of and help other women go through this process.”
Zaleski and classmates at Legal Career Options Day Photo courtesy of Stacy Zaleski
Every year, KU Law’s Career Services Office hosts its Legal Career Options Day event for first-year students. At this event, nearly 100 representatives from employers across the region come to KU. Because Zaleski is a non-traditional student at KU Law, she sometimes feels like an outsider, but at this event, she felt no different than the other students.
“I felt like I really belonged. They were eager to tell me about the profession and invite me to see what they do. They didn’t care that I was a non-traditional student. It didn’t matter. It was just exciting to really get a taste and to see part of the profession,” she said.
After her 1L year, Zaleski was able to put the skills she learned in Green Hall to use as a summer associate with the Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps Office at Fort Riley. While there, she was able to shadow civilian attorneys and advance her knowledge on topics like labor and fiscal law. Now, alongside her classes, the 2L is an extern at their legal assistance office. Zaleski plans to intern at the Kansas Legal Services Office in Manhattan next summer to continue her work in the field.
“I’m definitely interested in public interest, like something where I can continue to serve the community in some way, shape or form,” she said.
Zaleski knows that although her time in the Army may be over, she can live by the lessons it taught her. She said she often tackles difficult situations using a tactic she learned in the Army called an operations order.
“Identify what you want, make a list of all the steps you need to do, and then just do it. If there’s a problem or anything, circle back,” she said. “There’s nothing so hard in life that you can’t overcome with the right help and the right resources and the right support.”
Transitioning from soldier to civilian life can be daunting, but Zaleski encourages other veterans to take the leap of faith, even when it seems intimidating.
“I think the hardest part in pursuing a dream or a goal is that you don’t know where to start. You don’t know how to do it,” she said. “For anybody interested in law school, just do your research and ask questions. Don’t be scared.”
As Zaleski continues through law school and prepares to reenter the workforce, her mission remains clear: to be a guiding light for others who have walked a similar path. She is determined to offer support and encouragement to those navigating their own journeys, ensuring they never feel lost or alone.
