“We got married August 9th, 2014. We went to the Caribbean for three days, and then we came up to move in and go to orientation the next day. 1L year, we basically did everything together except go to class. We were both here that summer, and we realized that we both wanted the same thing: to go to a big firm and do corporate work. And then this past summer, our 2L summer, we were both in New York, and we’ll be going back there after graduation…with a baby! Continue reading
Hi everyone and happy summer! I am very pleased to be able to host a guest blog today from the BC Law Alumni Board member Ingrid Schroffner, Assistant General Counsel at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
I am passionate about—and feel fortunate to be able to work on—diversity and unconscious bias issues at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS). My cross-cultural upbringing and my experience as an Asian-American lawyer contribute to my interest in this area.
My maternal grandfather immigrated from Okinawa to Hawaii in the first part of the 20th century to work in the sugarcane fields. I attended Japanese school when I was a child, and my household was filled with Japanese culture.
I also have a cross-cultural, East-West perspective. My father is a first-generation immigrant from Salzburg, Austria. I learned German from my father (and later, in school) and spent a summer living and working in Austria with my relatives. None of my grandparents spoke English. These two diverse heritages comprise my background.
Name: Heather Perez
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.
Author’s Note: Kelsey Gasseling (KG) is a 1L at BC Law and a member of LAMBDA, the LGBTQ affinity group at BC Law.
When I was 17 years old I went on a gender pronoun boycott. After coming out of the closet and realizing life could go on somewhat normally (no fire and brimstone, much to my Catholic school-kid surprise), I started to analyze what made me, “me.” I had the fortune of being a white teenager from the Pacific Northwest, with a supportive mother and access to a vibrant LGBTQ youth center. This gave me a relatively safe space to explore my identity outside of the conventional male/female binary. Today, I find myself confronting a new set of questions revolving around gender norms in the typically more conservative Boston legal market.
Name: Amani Kancey
Year: 2017 (2L)
Organization: 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.
Name: Zain Ahmad
Year: 2L, Class of 2017
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.
Name:
Dallas Taylor
Year:
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.
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!
Name: Anna Hunanyan
Year: 2L
Affinity Group: Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA); 
Co-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.
This new “Meet the” series introduces you to the diverse affinity student group leaders on campus.
Name: Moussa Hassoun
Year: 2017 (2L)
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.
BC Law: Impact 