Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Heather Perez (LALSA)

Name: Heather PerezHaynes-IMG_5060

Year: 2L (Class of 2017)

Organization: Latin American Law Students Association (President)

Undergraduate Institution: Boston University

Experiences between college and law school:

I worked in public service in Boston as the Legislative Aide for State Representative Willie Mae Allen. Later, I served as the Chief of Staff for Boston City Councilor At-Large Felix G. Arroyo, and helped lead his campaign for Mayor.

 Favorite event that your organization plans:

LALSA hosts a Day in the Life” for local high school students to come to BC Law and get a personal look at being a law student from the perspective of LALSA members. Part of our goals as an organization is to provide mentorship and it’s great to be able to do that both within our BC Law community and in the Greater Boston community.

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Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Amani Kancey (BLSA)

Name: Amani Kancey

Year: 2017 (2L)

Photo on 9-15-14 at 8.19 PMOrganization: Black Law Students Association (Co-President)

Undergraduate Institution: Howard University

Experiences between college and law school: 

Upon graduating from Howard University I served as a White House Intern. After my internship, I was appointed by the White House to work at the U.S Department of Transportation as a Political Appointee. For two and a half years I was Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

 Favorite event that your organization plans:

My favorite event that BLSA hosted this year was “Black Excellence: A Celebration of Black History in Academia and the Legal Profession”. Black Excellence featured our Black deans and faculty sharing their personal stories in life and practice.

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Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Zain Ahmad (SALSA)

Name: Zain Ahmad

Year: 2L, Class of 2017zbc

Affinity Group: South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA); President

Undergraduate Institution: Rutgers University, BA Political Science, graduated cum laude

Experiences between college and law school: 

I worked as a paralegal at Covington & Burling LLP in New York City for two years.

Favorite event that your organization plans:

I’m proud of SALSA’s programming this year. My favorite events are the ones where we collaborate with other student organizations on campus to advance important conversations forward. It was a pleasure working with the Women’s Law Center (WLC) on our first film screening of “He Named Me Malala” with an open discussion following the movie. I also enjoyed working with the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) on Culture Shock: Spectrums of Privilege and the ensuing conversations the event sparked. I am looking forward to our forthcoming collaboration with the Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA) on Monday April 4th where we will have a roundtable discussion on breaking stereotypes in the current political climate. My hope this semester was to partner up with many student organizations on campus and help advance important conversations forward.

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Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Dallas Taylor (BLSA)

Name:

 Dallas Taylor

FullSizeRenderYear:

2017 (2L)

Organization:

Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Co-President

Undergraduate Institution:

University of Missouri- Kansas City

BA, Political Science

Experiences between college and law school: 

I took 3 years off after high school before going back to college. In that time I traveled with a music group and worked with a young adult leadership organization. After undergrad I went straight into law school.

Favorite event that your organization plans:

Culture shock. The event is amazing because it gives law students a candid opportunity to talk about social issues in a safe environment.

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Diversity Month Kicks off with the Taste of Diversity

BC Law officially kicked off Diversity Month with the “Taste of Diversity.” The event offers an opportunity for students to interact and sample food from the different affinity groups. Prior to the event, LSA President Nirav Bhatt ’16 said, “Every year students are excited for the tasty food and thought-provoking conversations that arise during the buffet style event. I’m looking forward to it!” Indeed, it’s an event that students have been talking about for weeks leading up to it. We all know students love free food, especially quality food!

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Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Anna Hunanyan (MELSA)

Name: Anna Hunanyan

Year: 2L

Affinity Group: Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA); pictureCo-President

Undergraduate Institution:

UCLA, BA Business Economics, BA Comparative Literature

Experiences between college and law school:

I took a year off before starting law school. I spent half of that year working as a financial analyst and the other half as a legal assistant.

Favorite event that your organization plans:

Every semester MELSA invites a speaker to discuss a timely and relevant issue concerning the Middle East. We have had cutting edge thinkers engage the BC Law community on topics such as free speech and hate speech, the Armenian Genocide, and the development of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. We have been lucky to host speakers with diverse backgrounds and experiences coming from different parts of the world. The perspective they bring and share is thought-provoking.

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Meet the Affinity Group Leaders: Moussa Hassoun (Lambda Co-Chair)

This new “Meet the” series introduces you to the diverse affinity student group leaders on campus. 

Name: Moussa Hassoun

Year: 2017 (2L)IMG_6036

Organization & Position:

Lambda: Co-Chair

Undergraduate Institution:

Bentley University

Experiences between college and law school: 

I went straight through from Bentley to BC Law. In between I worked for Liberty Mutual as a Product Analyst. 

Favorite event that your organization plans: 

The Lambda Annual Retreat is a special one. Students get away from the chaos of law school and get a chance to relax and get to know one another. Relaxation is one of the most undervalued needs all students should make time for. The retreat provides that opportunity and allows LGBTQ+ students to develop a community at the law school.

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Thinking About Running for Office? BC Law Alums Tell it Like it is

Is the West Wing your favorite show? Do you have a favorite debate watching drinking game? Is Leslie Knope your hero? More importantly, have you ever imagined yourself running for Office? If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes” then you were probably at the Rappaport Center’s panel discussion about running for Office. If not, I’ve got you covered.

The panel featured five notable BC Law Alums including State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg as moderator, and panelists State Senator Jamie Eldridge; Register of Probate for Plymouth County, Matt McDonough; former Boston City Councilor and 2013 City of Boston mayoral candidate John Connolly; and Newton Charter Commissioner, Bryan Barash. The panelists offered real insight into the nuts and bolts about running for office and the difficult realities that come along with being a public figure. The following are some of the topics that were discussed:

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Transferring to BC Law: “Getting to Legal Eagle”

Don’t be afraid, the grass really is greener. Being the new kid is never easy. It’s especially difficult when you walk into a new law school where everyone has already developed relationships that come along with surviving the grind of 1L.

As soon as I set foot in BC Law, I was embraced by a student body that genuinely wanted me to be here. Within my first week I was assigned a 3L “mentor” (Greg Steiner ’15) to show me the ropes and answer any question I had about the school. The best word of advice from Greg was to join a softball team. He placed me on a team with his friends called “Oliver Wendell Homies.” That was my opportunity to mingle with the 3L’s and get to know the social environment at BC better. IT WAS A BLAST. Like peanut butter and jelly, who doesn’t love softball and beer?

Softball

“Oliver Wendell Homies”

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