school news
Cooley Law School Lansing staff and students helped celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by participating in community service at the Black Child & Family institute in Lansing, Mich. on Jan. 17.
Cooley celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Community Service
Cooley student group featured at ABA midyear meeting in Atlanta
Community service was the theme of Cooley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Equal Access to Justice Day on Monday, Jan. 17 at all four of the school’s campuses.
The American Bar Association’s (ABA) midyear meeting brings together more than 3,000 lawyers from across the country. This year’s meeting was held Feb. 12 in Atlanta and featured a program that was developed by Cooley’s Ten Commandments of Real Estate Law Society Student Organization (10CORE™) on the Impact of Foreclosures and the Mortgage Crisis on Communities of Color.
As part of their community service, students and faculty at the Lansing campus volunteered at the Capital Area Humane Society and helped paint a mural of King at the Black Child & Family Institute in Lansing. The school’s Ann Arbor campus celebrated the day with a keynote address by Cooley graduate and former 41-B District Court (Mich.) Judge Sheila Miller. The event also featured a panel discussion with Cooley faculty and students entitled, “Overcoming Stereotypes: A Social Experiment” and another entitled, “Voices of Our Youth” with the Boys and Girls Club of Flint, Mich. Students, faculty, and staff at the Grand Rapids campus decorated lunch bags for Kids’ Food Basket as their service project. Kids’ Food Basket is the only organization in Grand Rapids that focuses solely on childhood hunger and the lunch bags will be used to distribute sack suppers that are given to 3,300 children each school day in Grand Rapids. Cooley’s Auburn Hills campus celebrated the day with a breakfast that included the awarding of the 2011 Equal Access to Justice Award to Cooley Associate Professor Stevie Swanson. The award honors an individual who has shown his/her loyal dedication, unwavering commitment, outstanding contributions, and diligent efforts to improve justice for all. A panel discussion was also held entitled, “Access to Justice: Diversifying the Dream.”
32
BENCHMARK SPRING 2011 COOLEY.EDU
The program was designed to help participants in the real estate process including homeowners, empty nesters, and foreclosure victims. But the program also helps nonprofit developers who build affordable housing. Panelists discussed how this and similar pro bono programs provide individuals and organizations with basic information, fundamental tools, and legal protocols to help save homes. They also discussed ways to help protect communities of color from the negative impact of the mortgage crisis. Cooley Professor Florise Neville-Ewell helped students establish 10CORE™, knowing that many homeowners are unaware of their legal rights. “The purpose of 10CORE™ is to provide the community with practical and comprehensive information about real estate issues,” said Neville-Ewell. “We are extremely excited that we were given the opportunity to present the program to the ABA’s Midyear Meeting as well as the Georgia community.”