Rising 2Ls Awarded Distinguished Student Scholarships for Winning Essays

Congratulations to the rising 2L winners of Distinguished Student Scholarships:  Victoria B. Ayeni, Leigha M. Beckman, Chelsea Blocklin, Kayla D. Bowen, Deborah Brundy, Michael K. Costello, Karlens Direny, Alisha M. Eastep, Abigail L. Ellerman, Katherine J. Grainger, Faye Hipsman, Emilie Jones, Andrew Klair, Kurtis Knapp, Michael A. Kostukovsky, Kristina Krasnikova, Lauren S. Lee, M.C. Linthicum, Michael S. Mahoney, Afshin Najafi, Alec Nielsen, Constanza M. Ortiz, Brian Pham, Natalie Ryang, Caroline Sir, Benjamin M. Whitlatch, and Randi M. Willis.

The winners were selected based on applications that included a submission of their résumé and a short essay (500 words) on the following prompt: “If you were Chancellor & Dean, what would you do to improve UC Law SF?”

Four top winners, Leigha M. Beckman, Kurtis Knapp, Natalie Ryang, and Benjamin M. Whitlatch, were also invited to a celebratory lunch with Chancellor & Dean David Faigman.

Top essays touched on various issues and suggested improvements by students, such as developing a sustainable recruiting process to connect UC Law SF students with big tech companies, as proposed by Natalie Ryang, and elevating students’ employment rates, as recommended by Leigha M. Beckman.

“This was a great opportunity to gain insight into the concerns of our first year students, while also rewarding them for their hard work,” says Chancellor & Dean Faigman, who plans to again award at least $100,000.00 in Distinguished Student Scholarships to rising 2Ls next spring. This is the second year this scholarship was offered to UC Law SF students.

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