Law School News
Harris attributed Virginia’s strong presence on the NBLSA board to the strength of the Law School’s own Black Law Students Association chapter, which boasts 77 members. “BLSA is dedicated to creating a really positive experience for first-year students in particular,” Harris said. “We do an incredible amount of programming. I think that’s one of the reasons we’re so successful. We are very dedicated and involved, and our programming is geared toward improving the academic experience and the service experience of its members.” Over the past eight years, Virginia Law’s local BLSA chapter has been named national chapter of the year three times and regional chapter of the year five times. Over the past six years, BLSA won four regional mock trial championships, and this year won NBLSA’s national Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition. The organization was also named UVA’s Graduate Student Contracted Independent Organization of the Year for 2009–10. “UVA has been amazingly generous and supportive, not only of BLSA locally but also of our involvement nationally. We have had national representation and regional representation as long as I can remember, uninterrupted,” Hightower said. “The support offered by the faculty, the administrators and the staff has been fantastic and we really cannot ask for a better experience. They have really allowed our chapter to shine.” NBLSA aims to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and facilitate change in the legal community. The organization consists of more than 200 chapters with 6,000 members, and is the largest student-run organization in the United States.
UVA’s blue team took the men’s division.
Softball Tournament Raises $23,000 for Charity by Rob Seal
T
he 27th annual UVA Law Softball Invitational raised $23,000 for charity and hosted a record 120 teams from 53 law schools in April. “Not only was it the biggest tournament, it was the most well-run,” said North Grounds Softball League Head Commissioner Doug Bouton, a third-year law student. Bouton credited the success of the event to tournament directors and third-years Nathan Wacker and Christy Weisner. “I think everybody had a blast,” Bouton said. The weekend-long series of softball games, featuring both men’s and co-rec divisions, raised $20,000 for Children, Youth and Family Services, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit. Since CYFS became the primary recipient of the tournament’s proceeds 10 years ago, the annual event has raised $126,500 for the organization. Students also raised $3,000 this year for the Law School’s Public Interest Law Association, which funds summer fellowships for students working in public service. That $3,000 is matched by a donation from the Law School Foundation. The games were spread out over several Charlottesville fields, and involved teams from across the nation. Florida Coastal School of Law won the co-rec division, while UVA’s blue team took the men’s. Bouton said organizers breathed a sigh of relief when the good weather held throughout the tournament, since with such a large field of teams, a rainy Friday or Saturday could have caused major headaches. “Luckily the weather was just perfect — everything worked out,” he said.
UVA Lawyer • Spring • 2010
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