King Hall Honors KHOP Students

UC Davis School of Law faculty, students, and staff gathered with friends and family of students in the King Hall Outreach Program (KHOP) for an awards banquet honoring the 2013 KHOP participants on August 2. The event featured remarks from Dean Kevin R. Johnson, Assistant Dean for Admission and Enrollment Sharon Pinkney, a keynote speech by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Emily Vasquez, and an awards presentation for the KHOP students.

Judge Vasquez spoke of how far minorities and women have come since her college days. "Like you, I was the first in my family to go to college and law school," she said. "I would have benefitted greatly from the KHOP program."

Judge Vasquez encouraged the students to become lawyers with integrity. "Great challenges lead to great opportunities. Rise to the challenge. Be an advocate for yourself. Don't lose or compromise your moral compass. Do the right thing."

Established in 2001, KHOP is a unique program that helps first-generation college students and economically disadvantaged students prepare for the law school admissions process.  It provides mentoring and pre-law advising during the school year and takes eligible college juniors and seniors through two four-week summer sessions in which they learn writing, analytical, and logical reasoning skills.  Students also study techniques for taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) as they explore career paths available to law school graduates. 

This year's summer session ran from July 6-August 2 and was attended by 10 new and 13 returning students, including graduates of UC Davis, UC Berkeley, CSU East Bay, Mills College, University of the Pacific, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, St. Mary's College, and USC.

Students participated in a mock trial session judged by Professor Clay Tanaka and Iris Yang '83 of Best, Best & Krieger, as well as a moot court session with four Justices from the California Court of Appeals, Third District: the Honorable Kathleen Butz '81, the Honorable Elena Duarte, the Honorable Andrea Hoch, and the Honorable Ronald Robbie.

In addition, students enjoyed presentations by Natalie Butcher '08, Associate Director of Career Services and Judicial Clerkships; Chris Carlson '90, Sacramento County District Attorney; Emily Doringer '00, Segal & Kirby; the Honorable Elena Duarte, California Court of Appeals, Third District; Kirsten Hill '04, Associate Director of Career Services and Public Interest Planning; Sarah Jebrock '11, Bean & Lloyd LLP; Charity Kenyon '77, Law Offices of Charity Kenyon; Clara Levers '03, California Department of Justice; the Honorable William Murray, Jr., California Court of Appeals, Third District; Brooks Parfitt '09, Sacramento County Public Defender; the Honorable Vance Raye, California Court of Appeals, Third District; Robyn Reid, Assistant Director of Financial Aid; Marien Sorensen '97, Considine, Sorensen & Trujillo; and Mary Waltermire '95, Law Offices of Schoenleber & Waltermire.

Seven KHOP alumni are headed for law school this fall, having successfully applied to schools including King Hall, Northwestern University Law School, Georgetown Law, UCLA School of Law, and USC Gould School of Law, among others.  During the 2012-13 year, a total of seven KHOP alumni attended King Hall.

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