Dear LSJ Alumni:
It has been a terrific year for Law, Societies, and Justice! Our students continue to bring vital energy to our program, and we are confident that the members of the class of 2012 are poised to do some very good work out in the wider world.
It has been an especially good year for us in developing relations with our alumni. We had a great 10th anniversary party in October, and followed that up with the creation of an alumni outreach committee. This group has been busy, with two service events and a panel discussion on marijuana legalization. And more good things are sure to be in store, so I hope each of you will consider participating. You can get more details about all of this in the stories in this newsletter. Please see the table of contents on the right side of this page.
There is much in these stories that inspire me, and make very clear the good work we accomplish here in LSJ. I like LSJ alumni Chelsea Toby’s quote about the LSJ Day of Service. She said, “The [Day of Service] represented what the LSJ program is all about: people with diverse backgrounds and interests coming together and working toward a common goal of improving our community.” I like the quote from Munish Bharti, class of 2012, about what it meant for him to participate in the One Night Count. “Whenever you have a group of individuals willing to work together towards a common cause, amazing things happen,” he said. “It didn’t matter whether you were an undergrad or an alum. What mattered was that we all were there.” And I like how Brittany Ward, also class of 2012, felt thrilled to see an LSJ alumnus, Kirsten Longaker, teaching one of Brittany’s last classes at UW. “I think it’s great to have alums teaching classes because they understand LSJ and how it works,” she said. “Kirsten also has a similar mentality to us and for one, she serves as a sense of inspiration of what you can do with an LSJ degree and even better, she’s bringing what she’s doing in the outside world and bringing it back to the classroom.”
You can see why I love this program, and why I love any opportunities to connect with our alumni. It is rewarding to hear of your challenges and successes, and to learn how each of you has translated your undergraduate experience into a particular life journey. I also enjoy finding ways to connect our alumni to our current students; in my observation, everyone gains from those interactions.
I do hope our paths cross soon. Whether that is possible or not, please stay in touch. And please know that any form of support you can provide to the ongoing work in LSJ will be greatly appreciated by those students who are following in your footsteps.
Sincerely,
Steve Herbert