law

The Schar School Announces New Undergraduate Degree Program: International Security and Law

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 19:32:06 +0000

The Schar School Announces New Undergraduate Degree Program: International Security and Law Andrew J Schappert Mon, 08/15/2022 - 15:32

In This Story

Mark J. Rozell

Heba F. El-Shazli

Heba El-Shazli: ‘Organizations need people who understand the myriad threats out there and potential solutions.’

A new, one-of-a-kind undergraduate degree program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV will prepare students to help organizations and agencies assess risk and propose policy solutions to international threats based on knowledge of law and diplomacy.

Students can apply now to begin their degree in International Security and Law in fall 2023. The bachelor of arts degree program joins the Schar School’s existing undergraduate programs, Public Administration and Government and International Politics.

The new program was created to respond to the increasingly complex relationships among traditional threats such as war and nuclear proliferation, and nontraditional, including cyberattacks and forced migration crisis. The courses within the new program will provide students with the skills to identify threats to international security, understand laws which enable and inhibit methods to address these threats, and to apply methodological tools to evaluate solutions.

“Leaders around the globe need policy analysts capable of navigating a range of challenges,” said ��AV Provost and Executive Vice President Mark R. Ginsberg in describing the program. “Security threats of all kinds take on new urgency and lethality in today’s digitally connected world. Security practitioners require access to a range of innovative tools and diverse policymaking frameworks to cope with these challenges.”

“In a complex world where nations’ actions can have serious consequences to human security, organizations need people who understand the myriad threats out there and potential solutions,” said associate professor Heba El-Shazli, director of undergraduate programs at the Schar School.

In this program, she said, “students will graduate with sharp critical thinking and analysis skills and be able to contribute to the risk and security departments of private industry as well as, for example, the United Nations; international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; various security-focused research think tanks; and government contractors. We have already had prospective students contact us about pursuing this path, and our faculty are just as excited to launch this program.”

“We are gratified that in approving the program the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia agreed the world needs educated and motivated practitioners who are prepared to address the most significant challenges facing modern times,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School. “It’s telling that nearly half of prospective students we surveyed indicated they intend to continue their education at the graduate level. We believe this will be a very popular major.”

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Schar School News August 2022

Undergraduate Degrees

International Security

law

“We, too, have a seat at the table” — Law students reflect on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic confirmation

Mariam Aburdeineh — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 21:43:08 +0000

“We, too, have a seat at the table” — Law students reflect on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic confirmation Mariam Aburdeineh Sun, 04/10/2022 - 17:43

Of the 115 judges who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court, 108 of them have been White men. This summer, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will spark a change, as she becomes the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the court’s 233-year history. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 7.

“I’m beyond thrilled that she got confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court, and I look forward to seeing the court one day becoming even more representative of what this nation looks like,” said Sally Alghazali, a third-year law student at ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

Several students of color, including leaders of Mason’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), said Judge Jackson’s accomplishment gives them renewed confidence that there is a place for them.

Here’s what they had to say:

Sahara Shrestha

“When you see someone so qualified, like Judge Jackson, achieve success and get the recognition she deserves, it is incredibly inspiring and encouraging,” said Shrestha, a third-year law student and first-generation Nepalese-American.

“It makes me want to dream bigger about the possibilities of where my legal career could take me and other young women of color…. I still walk into legal spaces, whether it be the classroom, courtroom, or workplace, feeling like I am the only person who looks like me or thinks like me. Judge Jackson becoming a Supreme Court justice is a step toward ensuring that the legal field, including the highest court in our nation, is representative of all of us.”

Chinyelum (Chi-Chi) Olele

Vice President of BLSA

“Seeing another Black woman reach the mountaintop of her career and shatter the glass ceiling is exciting,” said Olele, a first-year law student from Nigeria who grew up in Virginia Beach.

“Watching her navigate the hearing poised and with a smile was inspirational. Judge Jackson's confirmation is a representation of what America is. America is a country of possibilities, and as an immigrant, I know that the possibilities are endless.”

Bianca Hancock-Siggers
President of BLSA

Bianca Hancock-Siggers

“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson being on track to become the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court is not a ‘small favor’ from heaven, this is faith with work!” said Hancock-Siggers, a third-year law student from Indianapolis, Indiana.

“I often look around my law classes and ask myself, ‘Am I supposed to be here, am I good enough?’ Judge Jackson has helped to me answer that question in the affirmative. I look at her and know, although I am underrepresented in this community, I am not lesser. I do not have to conform my views or alter my appearance to find success.

“I am looking forward to seeing the diversity in experience that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will bring to the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Sally Alghazali

“Judge Jackson’s confirmation gives me hope and drives more determination in me to continue in this field,” Alghazali said.

Alghazali, who moved to the United States from Baghdad, Iraq, in 2013 as a refugee, said Judge Jackson’s confirmation gives her hope and determination to continue in the legal field. She said she was struck by Judge Jackson’s anecdote about another Black woman approaching her in the hall at Harvard and telling her to persevere, and that in turn was what Jackson said she would tell other Black American youth trying to do what she did.

“As a first-gen and diverse law student, this is what her confirmation means to me: that no matter how much people doubt me for being different or not ‘fitting in,’ I can reach my goals with determination and perseverance. Judge Jackson showed me and all those who don’t fit the ‘typical’ image of an American lawyer that we, too, have a seat at the table.”

Shanessa Guidry
BLSA/Pre-Law Liaison

Shanessa Guidry

“A couple weeks ago, I considered quitting law school because I started to feel like I didn't belong, and when I look around, I really don't see anyone who looks like me,” said Guidry, a first-year law student from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, who spent 20 years working at U.S. Department of Defense.

“When I was thinking about quitting [law school], an African American colleague sent me the clip from Senator Cory Booker when he addressed Judge Jackson. [Booker] told her, ‘You got here how every Black woman in America who’s gotten anywhere has done. By being, like Ginger Rogers said, 'I did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards in heels.’ He told Judge Jackson, 'You have earned this spot, you are worthy,' and 'Don’t worry, … God has got you.' I have those words in the back of my mind as I make it through my first year. Her nomination and her confirmation mean the world to me at this point, as a middle-aged woman who's choosing to pursue this degree.”

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Campus News

Students

Antonin Scalia Law School

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Scalia Law School

African American/Black

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Serving those who serve: Partnership with American Legion lets M-VETS expand veterans support and student learning

Mariam Aburdeineh — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:33:21 +0000

Serving those who serve: Partnership with American Legion lets M-VETS expand veterans support and student learning Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 02/09/2021 - 15:33

Tim MacArthur

It was post 9/11 when the family of a ��AV student deployed overseas found themselves facing a landlord-tenant issue. The wife came to the law school, asking for legal support and Mason stepped in pro bono. Realizing a need existed to help veterans and their families in similar situations, leaders at the law school established the Mason Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS) in 2004.

Since then, the clinic has represented more than 300 clients and provided Mason law students with thousands of hours of litigation experience. A new partnership with American Legion Post 139, which will be standing up a new building in Arlington, will allow the clinic to further increase its impact.

“We’re very appreciative of American Legion,” said M-VETS Director Tim MacArthur, who has also served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. “It’s an exciting opportunity to expand the types of legal services we can provide to the community and our students.”

“What we want to do is put a full-time employee at the M-VETS office at American Legion who will practice in areas that [we currently] don’t practice,” MacArthur said, adding that this would increase the number of students and clients the clinic could take on, as well as give students opportunities to practice more diverse areas of law.

Leigh Winstead

M-VETS Deputy Director Leigh Winstead supervises students with MacArthur. She said a recent survey highlighted two areas of legal need where the clinic could grow: criminal law and employment matters.

“Our biggest areas of practice are domestic relations matters, divorces, step-parent adoptions, and landlord-tenant matters,” Winstead said. “On the military side, our bread and butter are discharge upgrades and Virginia disability benefit appeals.”

The new American Legion building and M-VETS’ expansion into the space is scheduled for 2022. Until then, M-VETS continues to serve those who serve

“It’s the least we can do for the sacrifices veterans have made for our country,” Winstead said. “Two very rewarding benefits from it are teaching the students and preparing them for practice, and being able to give back to the military community.”

M-VETS students handle three to five cases and applicants at a time, and 12 students are enrolled to work in the clinic this spring, MacArthur said.

What’s an average day like?

“We have [students] be the first chair of the case, meaning they’re the ones contacting the client, researching, preparing documents, and making sure their supervisor is up to date on the case,” MacArthur said.

Samantha Lewis

“Tim and Leigh are really great about giving us a lot of autonomy, which is awesome because that’s what it’s going to be like in the real world,” said Samantha Lewis, a third-year law student entering her second semester with M-VETS. “It’s a really unique opportunity for me as a young lawyer.”

Lewis said making an impact in others’ lives has been her favorite part of law school. The clinic has also helped her gain confidence and put classroom learnings into practice.

“[Defending a client in court] was a really proud moment for me because that was my first time standing up in front of a real judge, making real arguments, and acting like a real attorney,” she said. “We’re getting all this great legal experience, and [veterans] often wouldn’t be able to get good legal services if this clinic didn’t exist.”

Topics

Military Veterans and Families Initiative (MVFI)

Military

Antonin Scalia Law School

New dean ready to elevate the law school through innovation, supporting students

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 05:00:00 +0000

New dean ready to elevate the law school through innovation, supporting students Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 12/07/2020 - 00:00

Ken Randall, Dean of Scalia Law School. Photo by John Boal.

Kenneth Randall has an impressive track record when it comes to using innovation to transform academia. The new dean of ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School said it all started from humble beginnings.

“We were a blue-collar family, and I first saw lawyers on TV,” said Randall, who started at Mason on Dec. 1. “Lawyers were people who could make a difference and could make an impact and could help others.”

Aspiring to have a similar impact, Randall became a first-generation lawyer—something he couldn’t have done, he said, without the support of teachers and mentors. That’s one reason he’s passionate about academia.

“I love working in education because of the students,” he said. “I am a teacher at heart.”

Prior to coming to Mason, Randall served for two decades as law dean at the University of Alabama. Under his leadership, Alabama’s U.S. News & World Report law ranking leapt from No. 96 to 21.

In addition to being named one of legal education’s most transformative deans of the last decade by Leiter’s Law School Reports, Randall is a successful entrepreneur. In 2013, he founded iLaw Ventures Distance Learning, which has become an industry leader, partnering with 25% of law schools nationwide. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in international law from Columbia University, a master’s in law from Yale, and a juris doctor from Hofstra.

Randall spoke recently from his home office over Zoom.

What drew you to Mason?

It’s a great university with an energetic new president with a successful track record at other fine schools. I do relate to a student body that has a lot of first-generation students. It has what I consider to be a top 20 faculty and a top 20 student body. The law school is distinguished by having academic centers, and several of them are the best, not only in the country, but in the world. It’s the best law and economics and antitrust law school anywhere. I like what’s happening in Arlington. With Amazon having its headquarters there, I think there’s real potential for interdisciplinary growth.

In my many trips to Mason, whether giving a talk, attending a conference, or interviewing, it felt right. I am really excited and honored to be at Mason.

What is your vision for the law school?

During COVID, our primary goals are to be sure the institution is stable and that we’re taking care of students, faculty and staff in their health, education and welfare.

One of the things that we’ll be working on is to have the law school recognized for what it really is—a top 25 law school.

How will diversity play a role in the strategic plan?

It will be significant, and to start, there are three initiatives:

First, we are initiating enrollment-pipelining programs with [historically Black colleges and universities] in the commonwealth.

Second, we have another program in place to help pipeline Mason undergraduates into law school. Mason has many first-generation students.

Third, we’ll be expanding the part-time evening program to increase inclusive opportunities. We’re going to use technology to make legal education more accessible for nontraditional and adult students. We’ll have a program starting in Fall 2021 that allows students to come to the law school just two nights a week.

You were named one of legal education’s most transformative deans. What is the key to such success and how do you see that coming into play at Mason?

That was a full team effort. Critical components of the success involved using technology, being innovative, being entrepreneurial, [and] taking some best business practices and applying them in an academic setting. For example, we were one of the pioneers in online programming. That provided resources that we wouldn’t have had to provide to faculty, staff and student initiatives, and gave more scholarships to students. We prioritized diversity at my previous school.

What advice do you have for aspiring lawyers?

Remember that ultimately the law is a service profession. It’s about how do we help the client. Ethics in law is absolutely critical. Students need to keep professionalism and ethics in the front and center of everything they do. They need to focus on long-term objectives.

Skills helping clients with counseling, strategy and problem solving will make a great lawyer in the 2020s.

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Scalia Law School

Antonin Scalia Law School

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Rosanne Cash speaks to Mason law students about music, intellectual property

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Rosanne Cash speaks to Mason law students about music, intellectual property Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 09/11/2020 - 01:00

Acclaimed Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, author and advocate Rosanne Cash spoke with students at ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School during an online intellectual property conference held on Sept. 10.

Cash was the keynote speaker for the three-day Evolving Music Ecosystem conference, hosted by the school’s Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). She spoke on artistic copyrights, fair pay and support for artists, First Amendment rights, artist struggles during the pandemic, the artistic process, and memories of her father, Johnny Cash.

Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash speaks with Mason law students over Zoom about music and intellectual property.

“Having the chance to listen to Ms. Cash share her insight regarding the music industry was a unique opportunity and a great experience,” said second-year law student Austin Shaffer. “She really put things into perspective by talking through her own personal music ecosystem and how many people are working behind the scenes to create the product that ultimately reaches consumers.”

“I never look at it as being all about me,” Cash said. “It’s about providing work for each other in this ecosystem.”

Sandra Aistars, director of copyright research and policy at CPIP, moderated the Q&A session. She said she hopes attendees recognize the value creative ecosystems bring to the community and that they’ll work to foster those ecosystems for everyone’s benefit.

“Mason students in multiple disciplines can learn from [Cash’s] experiences as a creator, business person and policy advocate,” Aistars said. “Her writing practices, whether applied to lyrics or prose, can teach us all to be ruthless editors of our own work; and the discipline, dedication and fearlessness she lives her life with is worth modeling at any stage in one’s career.”

“Musicians are in a service industry,” Cash said. “We service the heart and the soul.”

Rosanne Cash strums her custom Martin guitar for Mason students during the keynote session.

“Songs are really critical right now,” she added, noting that music that seems complex or includes unexpected lyrics serves a purpose. “This is what art is about, partly to make you uncomfortable, and make you think, but also to arouse your feelings.”

Cash also recognizes her role as an advocate for fellow artists.

“I consider myself part of a chain of what came before and the next generation of musicians,” Cash said, expressing her concern for supporting legacy artists and those just starting out.

Students said hearing from Cash was an experience they will not forget.

“[Cash] really reaffirmed my decision to study law and be an advocate for these exact issues,” second-year law student J. David Ward said.

“Since the pandemic has tremendously changed the economic and creative landscape for many artists, it was important to hear from a real artist about the struggles artists are going through and how we can all support the artistic community,” said LLM student Yumi Oda.

The entire conference has been worthwhile, the students agreed.

“Each panelist is a well-respected expert that provides invaluable insight into the topic at hand,” Shaffer said. “The fact that Scalia Law offers these types of opportunities is one that I don’t take for granted.”

From left to right: Rosanne Cash, Sandra Aistars.

*This conference continued a dialogue on music ecosystems begun by CPIP Executive Director Sean O’Connor while at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle. In its inaugural year in the Washington, D.C. area, the conference aimed to bring together musicians, music fans, lawyers, artist advocates, business leaders, government policymakers, and anyone interested in supporting thriving music ecosystems in the United States and beyond. The conference is also a companion to The Oxford Handbook on Music Law and Policy, which is edited by O’Connor.

Antonin Scalia Law School

Scalia Law School

Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP)

Alumni share memories of Original Building, as innovation escalates on Arlington Campus

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Alumni share memories of Original Building, as innovation escalates on Arlington Campus Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 02/27/2020 - 00:00

Law students ride the escalator in the original building, 1983. Photo from "By-George," ��AV Yearbook.

Many people are familiar with ��AV’s Arlington Campus, but fewer know its unique history, including how it became the only law school with an escalator when the university moved into the old Kann’s department store in the early 1970s.

The Original Building will soon be coming down to make way for an innovative new space. Students will still rise to new levels—sans the physical escalator—at Mason’s new School of Computing and Institute for Digital InnovAtion. Mason already produces the most tech talent of any university in Virginia, and with the commonwealth’s recent commitment to Mason of $235 million as part of the Tech Talent Investment Program, the number of graduates in computer-related fields who will support the region’s digital economy will only grow stronger.

Before saying hello to the highly anticipated space, we asked alumni to take us on a stroll down memory lane and share their memories of the Original Building:

Students study in the library in Arlington in 1981. Photo from ��AV yearbook.

Law & Love

“I grew up in Arlington so I remember shopping at Kann’s with my mother and being excited to ride the escalator. My husband (William Brewer) and I met during law school when we worked on the ‘Urge to Merge’ campaign to convert the International School of Law into a state school as part of ��AV. We were part of an active group of students lobbying the Virginia legislature and working closely with Til Hazel to make the dream come true. One evening when Bill and I were taking a study break in an open area on the second floor of the building, he asked me to marry him. We were married during our third year of law school. We graduated from GMU School of Law in 1980, having taken all our courses in the old Kann’s department store building. After graduation, we moved to Morgantown, West Virginia, where we have had successful and active law practices and raised our family. Little did I know when I started law school that the Kann’s building would help chart out the rest of my life for me!”

— Susan (Slenker) Brewer, JD ’80

John T. “Til” Hazel and students in front of the ��AV School of Law, July 31, 1987.

Bright Futures

“As a 1990 graduate of the law school and someone who has the opportunity to visit the existing structure from time to time, I know that the expansion will only serve to stamp the Arlington Campus as a go-to spot for future lawyers, innovators and public policy wonks.”

“It was definitely interesting and memorable to have attended law school over four years at night in the old department store.

“Truth be told, you kind of forgot what the physical plant was once you had to opportunity to interact and learn from incredible legal minds, both as professors and fellow classmates. I am definitely proud of my degree from the Scalia Law School, nee ��AV School of Law, and am excited about the direction the school has taken since my graduation and wouldn’t trade those years for anything.”

—Jeff Kramer, JD ’90

Students study in the law school library in 1981. Photo from ��AV yearbook.

Shadow of Segregation

“As one who would later go on to practice civil rights law, I distinctly remember on the bottom floor there being two men’s and two women’s rooms, all right next to one another; a constant reminder of how far we had come as a nation, and the gravity of the endeavor we had undertaken.”

—Mark D. Dix, JD ’98

Metro escalator, 1981. Photo from ��AV yearbook.

Monkeying Around

“All of my classes were in the Original Building, the former Kann’s department store. It was full circle for me.

“I grew up near Merrifield and my mom used to take me to Kann’s on a regular basis to buy two things, which apparently were only available at Kann’s. The first was Cub Scout uniforms. The second was Stride Rite shoes. So why does that third-grader remember this 49 years later? Because the Kann’s shoe department was unique. The second floor shoe department (yes, up the same escalator) boasted a large glass window cage/display with live spider monkeys. Whenever I’d complain about making the trek, I’d be reminded of the opportunity to see the monkeys.

“Little did I know that 25 years later I’d be back at Kann’s for a different purpose.”

— Steve Andersen, ’97

Securing a Law School

“I understood at the time, circa 1982, that the Kann building was leased, with an option to buy. Dean Ralph Norvell reached out to his former student Joseph Allbritton to sign and guarantee the note that purchased the Kann Building, whose property included the space upon which the later and current law school was built. The deal with Virginia provided that the state would get ownership of the Kann building property for one dollar, and in turn, Virginia would finance the yearly operation of the law school.

“During law school I got acquainted with an administrative clerk at the Supreme Court of the United States. He worked a second job at the library. On his own initiative, he invited me to visit him at the Supreme Court. … [I also remember] that the then-sitting Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. came to the law school for a ceremony that started a Phi Delta Phi fraternity chapter in his name.”

—James R. Becker, JD ’82

Dean Ralph Novell stands at the north side of the ��AV School of Law shortly after the building was acquired by the university in the late 1970s. Photo by ��AV.

A Strange But Compelling Link

“I have many vivid memories of the old Kann’s department store, having been a small child growing up in the ‘60s in the Clarendon section of Arlington County. I used to ride my wagon, and then bike, all around the parking lots of the Virginia Square Shopping Center. There was a Woolworth’s 5 & 10 right across the green from Kann’s, and a People’s Drug Store on the corner. These were magical places for an eight-year-old, especially at Christmas time! I remember being so surprised when Kann’s became a law school for a local university, and even more surprised when I graduated from that same university several years later. The law school building is a strange but compelling link to different periods of my life, and one I will always remember with great fondness.”

—Bill Pittman, BS Business Administration ’80

Mason law classroom in 1980. Photo from ��AV yearbook.

Floored With Memories

“I was a student at the law school from 1980 to 1983 in the old Kann’s Department Store. My first year the school only occupied two floors of the building. We did not realize there was a third floor to the building until they ripped down the wall board around the escalator going up there in the spring of that year. The paging system of the department store was still in use when I was a student to page the maintenance staff when needed.

“My graduation in 1983 was held in the large open area of the second floor of the building.”

—Judy Drazen Schretter, JD ’83

Antonin Scalia Law School

Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA)

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