Northeastern Honored for Outstanding Public Service

Chartering an ABA chapter at Northeastern University School of Law last year seemed like a perfect fit for the Boston-based school and its students. After all, both the ABA and Northeastern maintain a strong commitment to public interest work. Little did those students realize that just one year later, they would receive the ABA Law Student Division’s highest honor for community service.

The Division recognized the work of the school’s entire student body with the Judy M. Weightman Public Interest Award during the ABA annual meeting held in Atlanta in August. The Weightman Award is presented annually to a school that offers outstanding activities such as pro bono work, volunteer programs, clinics, public interest organizations, and loan forgiveness programs and financial aid for public interest jobs. Other considerations include the overall commitment of student, faculty, and administration support for public interest activities.

"Northeastern has a public interest mission," says Northeastern 3L Anjali Gupta, president of the school’s ABA chapter. "Both students and faculty have a huge dedication to the community."

Northeastern requires all of its students to complete a public service requirement before they graduate. "Students want that commitment, because they know they will be taking jobs in the public interest after graduation," Gupta says.

The chapter started strong in the fall of 1998, with more than 130 members joining to make the Northeastern chapter one of the largest in the Boston area. The group set to work immediately, participating in a program to heighten awareness of the Americans with Disabilities Act during the Division’s Work-A-Day program. The chapter also hosted a unique Halloween party at a local pub. Students paid an admission price of one bag of candy to enter the event, where they decorated pumpkins and carved jack-o’-lanterns. The students then donated the candy and pumpkins to brighten smiles and rooms at a local children’s hospital.

In the spring, Northeastern law students invited kids aged 12-17 from the Mo Vaughn Youth Center in Boston to participate in a moot court contest. Law students served as co-counsels, while the kids acted as prosecutors, defense counsel, and witnesses.

"[The children] just had a ball," Gupta says. "We underestimate kids that age–I encourage every school to get involved in an event like that." •

 

Brandon Bigelow