Senate Confirms Alumnus as Federal Judge

On June 9, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s, nomination of Robert Huie ’98 to serve as a U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

05 After serving 20 years as an educator in traditional school settings, Mandy Sytsma Priore ’01 recently became the Director of Junior Tennis at the Shrewsbury Club in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, where she instructs juniors’ tennis lessons at all skill levels, focuses on building strong relationships with clients and families to help them see the health and emotional benefits of playing tennis, and trains assistant professionals. Priore hopes to instill a love of tennis in her clients in central Massachusetts and beyond.

2010s

Keagan Johnson ’15 earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Advanced Public Health Nursing from Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. Her DNP project was titled “Implementing health literacy screening and targeted intervention in the More Life Mas Vida population.”

The U.S. Foreign Service recently accepted Carolyn Lang ’15 as a Consular officer at the Consulate in India. Lang received her master’s degree in public administration from Grand Valley State University in 2019 and has worked for the U.S. Department of State since 2018 in the civil service, in Detroit, Michigan.

06 On February 21, 2023, Lindsay Laurie ’21 began a master’s program in urban development, with a focus in sustainable and energy efficient cities, at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. A 2020 Faith and Computer Science Interim to Zambia, along with on-campus learning and mentorship at Calvin, sparked Laurie’s interest in pursuing her current career path.

Huie was sworn in at a ceremony on June 21, 2022, during which he was robed by his wife, Michele Risany Huie ’98. He filled a judgeship vacant since October 2018.

Huie graduated from Calvin with majors in English, philosophy, history, and religion, and he received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2002.

Huie’s experience as an attorney ranges from private practice in Connecticut and California to public service, including serving for 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, where he specialized in prosecuting fraud and public corruption cases. Notably, Huie also worked for three years for the U.S. Department of Justice as a diplomat and legal advisor at U.S. Embassies in North Africa and Eastern Europe, focusing on counterterrorism.

“Rob Huie is an exceptional choice,” said Chief District Judge Dana M. Sabraw at the time of Huie’s confirmation. “He’s an exceptionally kind, gracious and warm person. … My colleagues and I are so pleased he will be joining our bench.”