How to stay connected with your classmates in the era of social distancing

Photo by Ashley Golledge

Stephen King may have been an undercover law student at some point, and was talking about law students when he exclaimed, “If we don’t have each other, we go crazy with loneliness. When we do, we go crazy with togetherness.”

Before COVID-19, most of us law students spent the better part of our time together. Even on the weekends, we would get together to study. All this togetherness did make us cherished our brief moments alone. However, it has now been over seven months since many of us have seen each other in Green Hall. I know I miss you all! You understand what I’m going through as a law student. My husband just doesn’t seem to care or participate in the grumbling when I randomly and frustratingly blurt out “BLUEBOOK.” A fellow classmate in the library would not need any explanation and just join in with his own protest. I miss that!

With many of us only taking classes online and group meetings being held virtually, we have to be purposeful to connect with one another. It’s not just important for us as students (we all need that person we can text during class to ask a “stupid” question), but these peer relationships are meaningful as we embark on our careers. Our peers will be people we call on for references, advice and support for years to come.

To help combat the isolation and loneliness, as well as help facilitate the meaningful building of relationships, the various student groups have worked hard to create opportunities for us to interact together outside of our classes. If you have yet to get involved with a student group, I highly recommend checking some of them out soon. Many are just now having their first meetings and even if you’re not an official member, they will all welcome you to join their events.

I am honored to be president of KU Women in Law. We have already had deep meaningful discussions about our role as women in racial reconciliation, in politics and voting as we commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment. Our meetings do not look like they have in the past, but that’s OK. Even with being completely online, the group has been able to think outside the box with various activities, including teaming up with the Association of Women Lawyers of Kansas City to help match our members with a legal mentor in the KC area! I’m thankful that I have personally gotten to know some of my peers on a deeper and more meaningful level.

If you are not sure what groups or events are available, make sure to check your class’s Facebook page, Dean Crystal Mai’s announcements, or ask those in your section what they are involved in. You can also reach out to Dean Leah Terranova. There really is a student group that fit every kind of interest waiting for you! Because if we’re going through this crazy time, we should at least do so together!

— By Kendra Stacey, a 2L from Kansas City, Kansas and a KU Law Student Ambassador

KU Law welcomes largest class of LEAD students this fall

A group of LEAD students tour the Kansas Supreme Court building in April 2019.

The University of Kansas School of Law welcomed 15 students from the LEAD Program this fall, making it the largest class of LEAD students since the program launched in 2013.

The Legal Education Accelerated Degree (LEAD) Program gives students an expedited opportunity to earn both a B.A. and a J.D. degree in six years, instead of seven.

“We believe KU Law to have the largest, or second largest, 3+3 program in the country,” said Lumen Mulligan, LEAD program director and professor of law. “LEAD students accounted for nearly 15% of our 1L enrollment in fall 2020.”

The program is designed to prepare students for law school and a legal career. As undergraduates, LEAD students have the opportunity to learn about law school, law-related internships and legal practice; build relationships with law professors and practicing attorneys; and participate in off-campus activities, such as a tour of the Kansas Supreme Court building and discussion with a justice of the court.

Sixty percent of the 15-person class of LEAD students are Kansas residents. The remaining 40% arrive at KU Law from five states across the country.

The LEAD program at KU started in 2013. The University of Kansas School of Law and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences collaborated on the degree track to provide an opportunity for high-ability students to maximize their coursework at KU.

The size of the program has grown over time. There are 125 undergraduate students at KU currently enrolled in the LEAD program. The program is offered at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.

Sarah Wood, a first-year law student from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said she was grateful to be a part of the LEAD Program because it helped guide her goals from the very beginning of her college experience.

“Choosing to go to law school and all that comes with it can be an extremely stressful time, but with the guidance I received from KU, I felt fully supported each step of the way,” Wood said. “After my first full month of law school, I am more appreciative than ever to the LEAD Program and all that it offers.”

— By Ashley Golledge

Alumna strives for change

Sarah Deer, L’99, aims to end gender-based violence in Native American communities through legislative change, legal scholarship and advocacy

Photo by Ashley Golledge.

Sarah Deer, L’99, has dedicated her career to ending violence against women in Native American communities. For nearly 30 years, she has advocated for the protection of Native women and worked with survivors. Her scholarship and advocacy focus on the intersection of federal Indian law and victims’ rights.

Deer is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. She was instrumental in the development and passage of landmark legislation that protects Native American women from gender-based violence, including The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, and the 2013 and 2019 reauthorizations of the Violence Against Women Act.

She has also testified before Congress on four occasions and filed five amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court. Deer is also the chief justice of the Prairie Island Indian Community Supreme Court.

“My testimony to Congress about violence against Native women and my Supreme Court briefs advocating for the interests of Native women and children are two notable examples where I have used my legal education to ameliorate the status of underprivileged communities,” Deer said.

Deer, who grew up in Wichita, is a two-time alumna of the University of Kansas. She earned undergraduate degrees with honors in women’s studies and philosophy in 1996. Deer also earned a J.D. and a Tribal Lawyering Certificate from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1999.

“The law school at the University of Kansas is also a great value,” Deer said. “It’s an excellent education at a reasonable cost.”

Deciding where to pursue her education was an easy choice for Deer because she is a second-generation Jayhawk. Her mother, Jan Deer, graduated from KU in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in science education. Her father, Montie Deer, also went to KU.

“I already had an affinity to KU because I studied here as an undergrad,” Deer said. “Both of my parents attended KU.”

After law school, Deer worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in Los Angeles as a victim-advocacy legal specialist and staff attorney. She also co-directed the Indian Law Clinic at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Sarah Deer presents “Sovereignty of the Soul: Centering the Voices of Native Women” on October 1, 2019 as part of the Hall Center for the Humanities Lecture Series. Photo by Ashley Golledge.

In 2016, she served as the Langston Hughes Visiting Professor at KU.

“In the Fall of 2016, I returned to Lawrence as a visiting faculty member as part of the Langston Hughes program,” Deer said. “I enjoyed my time in Lawrence and working with other KU faculty. I was fortunate enough to be offered a permanent position at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. My positive experience with students made it an easy decision to return to KU.”

Deer is now a University Distinguished Professor in KU’s Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. She has a joint appointment in the School of Public Affairs & Administration and is a courtesy professor at KU Law.

“I like sharing my own experiences as a graduate of KU, and I encourage students to dream big,” Deer said.

Deer was awarded a “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Fellows Program in 2014. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019. She was the first woman from KU and the fifth Kansan to receive the honor. Earlier this year, she was selected to be in the 2020 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. Through the fellowship, Deer will author a book, Indigenous Democracies: Native Women and the Future of Tribal Nations in the United States, about the basis of indigenous democracies in Native women’s political activism.

Deer has co-authored four tribal law textbooks. She also published a book, The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America, in 2015. Deer has published articles in law journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, and the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.

In addition to her scholarly work, Deer serves the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma as a formal consultant on legal reform efforts.

— By Ashley Golledge

How to manage stress in law school

Photo by Ashley Golledge

Law school can be frightening because of all the unknowns, especially in these strange times. The material is challenging — and it can be hard or nearly impossible — to fully understand everything in the course of a semester, or even just in the course of a week. This can lead to a feeling that you don’t belong or are somehow not understanding the material as well as others. The good news is, as I’ve found it, you’re almost never alone in finding material hard to grasp. The even better news is that at KU Law, the professors are eager to ensure that you have a full grasp of the material. The open-door (or open-Zoom chat) policy at KU is real! 

That feeling of not knowing can follow some people throughout their entire career in the law. I know that at my job with a firm over the summer, it being my first legal job, I felt like I had no idea what was going on. Supreme Court Justice Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her memoir that even with all her success, she has dealt with what’s called “imposter syndrome” throughout her career. Imposter syndrome is essentially the feeling of not being smart enough and being worried about every little mistake you may make. It’s something that a lot of law students deal with. I find that discussing difficult topics from the day with a few of my classmates can really help. It can be difficult not to follow the urge to compare everything you do with other law students. The reality is that every person studies and learns differently. Above all, the fact that you’ve gotten good grades in undergraduate, done well on the LSAT, and gotten into law school is on its own enough to show that you belong at law school. 

What’s helped me deal with that stress is making sure that law school doesn’t consume my life. For me, a way to escape the stress of law school life has been with friends, both from the law school and elsewhere. Working and worrying yourself to death every day isn’t a recipe for success in law school. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your law school success is to take a day off from studying and go out for dinner with some friends. On a day-to-day basis, I typically try and cut myself off from studying at 9 p.m. Then I have the remainder of the evening (I stay up late) to myself, either to watch a movie or to just relax. KU Law’s atmosphere also helps take the stress out of things, as everyone is eager to help you in any way they can.  

— By James Schmidt, a 2L from Houston, Texas and a KU Law Student Ambassador.

Living With The Bluebook: 4 Quick Tips

Photo by Ashley Golledge

The story of Sisyphus is a Greek myth, one that concludes with Zeus condemning Sisyphus to Tartarus and forcing him to push a boulder to the top of a hill. No matter how many times Sisyphus brings the boulder to the peak, however, the boulder falls down the other side, dooming Sisyphus to an eternity of boulder pushing.

On an unrelated note, bluebooking can sometimes seem like a daunting task. Thankfully, with my Five Star Bluebook Tips™ in tow, you can learn how to stop worrying and love not loathe everyone’s favorite somehow-not-obsolete citation guide!

Tip #1: The Quick Reference Table Is Your Friend

Located on both inside cover pages is the Bluebook’s Quick Reference Table. This table provides an example of a properly bluebooked citation for every garden variety source variant that you’re likely to stumble upon, including cases, legislative reports, and, my personal favorite, pamphlets. By looking to this table first, you may save yourself a trek through the spiral-bound hellscape that is the Bluebook’s actual text.

Tip #2: “The Power is Yours!” Go Digital!

Recently, I learned that the Bluebook has a digital edition. After enrolling in a free trial and spending some time working on some citations for Law Review, I can say with certainty that my life has been made easier. The display is clean, the Ctrl + F capabilities are life-changing, and best of all, as I cite Law Review articles that discuss how best multinational oil corporations can escape liability for their contributions to global climate change, I get to feel good that I’m saving paper! With an annual payment of $39, you too can live life with my peace of mind.

Tip #3: Don’t Trust Anyone

Sometimes you’ll hit a wall and catch the urge to coast off the work of judges and scholars to complete your citations. The temptation is understandable; these are high credential individuals citing the exact source you’re needing to cite, so why not just lift it straight from the case text on Westlaw or Lexis? Among other reasons, you shouldn’t do this because, unbelievably, one can be an extraordinary legal mind and not pay much heed to the conventions of the Bluebook. For one illustrative example, you can look to Judge Posner, who states that the Bluebook “is 560 pages of rubbish,” and states that that a proper first step for our profession is to “burn all copies” of the noble uniform system of citation. Unfortunately, such a cavalier attitude toward conformity with the Bluebook will result in a less-than desirable grade on your Open Memos, so just trust your knowledge and do the work yourself.

Tip #4: The Bluebook is Inevitable, Suffering Is Optional

Duḥkha is the First Noble Truth of Buddhism; it tells us that suffering is inextricably linked to the human experience. For the Buddhists, the paradoxical first step to disengage oneself from suffering is an acknowledgement of its inevitability. In many ways, this wisdom applies with equal force in learning to accept the Bluebook as a fixture in your life. The Bluebook is inconvenience in corporeal form; it is hundreds of pages of idiosyncrasies, counter-intuitive rules, and opaque explanations and examples. You could spend every waking minute of the next couple years trying to memorize each one of its inexplicable rules and exceptions, and even if you succeed, you’ll have just minutes to celebrate before a joyless cabal of Ivy Leaguers decides it is time to change a dozen or so rules and force everyone to pay for a new edition. True, you may never fully escape from the Bluebook’s gaping maw, but with each year your grasp on it will improve, your sense of where the proper rule is located will develop, and God willing, an unitalicized comma will matter less and less. Embrace its absurdity, understand its inevitability, and feel the stress wash away.

—  By Griffin Albaugh, a 2L from Lawrence and a KU Law Student Ambassador.

Alumni gift creates new scholarship fund

A new scholarship fund at the KU School of Law will provide support to law students from diverse backgrounds.

Nathaniel Davis, L’76, has established the Nathaniel and Floydie Crawford-Davis Memorial Law Scholarship with a $50,000 gift to KU Endowment. Davis named the scholarship after his parents, who were public school teachers in Greene County, Alabama.

“I established the scholarship fund as a way to honor the memory of my parents by providing financial assistance to minority students seeking a legal education,” Davis said.

Davis graduated from KU Law in January 1976, attending two summer sessions to earn his J.D. early. He also completed academic requirements for the Master of Public Administration program. Davis started his career in private industry before joining the Parole and Community Services Division of the California Department of Corrections. He served in roles including state training director, chief of the Audit Division, and parole administrator before retiring in 2004.

Davis earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University in 1966. Before enrolling at KU Law, he served in the U.S. Army, and worked as a social worker and parole agent in California. When he decided to apply to law school, he reached out to campuses across the country.

“I made several inquiries to schools regarding possible minority recruitment programs. The University of Kansas offered the support that enabled me to attend law school,” Davis said.

“I give to KU Law because KU Law gave so much to me. I am grateful for the legal education that has been an asset both professionally and personally,” he said.

Make a gift

— By Margaret Hair