On April 19, 2019, La Raza hosted its 2nd Annual Latinx Judicial Panel. This event was created with the intention of introducing our Raza members to Judges who are not only amazing but who look like them and share a similar background. We feel that highlighting and introducing our Raza members to amazing judges like Judge Vasquez, the first Latina appointed to Sacramento County Superior Court, Judge Cortes, the first Latina or Latino appointed to Yolo County Superior Court, & Judge Olguin first Latino appointed to the Federal District Court for the Central District of California will encourage our Raza to continue to dream, aim, and achieve at the highest levels. Imposter syndrome is a real threat to our community, but events like these, people like our panelists including Venable Partner Angel Garganta, help us defeat those feelings of unworthiness and uncertainty. A special and warm thank you to Judge Vasquez, Judge Cortes, Judge Olguin, Angel Garganta and Venable for generously sponsoring our event and spending their Friday afternoon with us. We hope that this tradition continues.
17th Annual Cruz Reynoso Gala
On April 5th, 2019, La Raza celebrated the 17th Annual Hon. Cruz Reynoso Fellowship Gala. We celebrated the legacy of Cruz Reynoso the first Latinx judge to serve on the CA Supreme Court and the fellowship recipients. We ate good food, danced, and laughed all night. This year our Keynote was Judge Elizabeth G. Macias. In her speech, she reminded us that we need to help one another and to serve as mentors for future generation so we can uplift one another.
We recognized Kazan, MoFo, and Kirkland for over a decade of sponsorship to the fellowship. We also recognized the Academic Skills Program Director and Associate Director, Professor Kristen Holmquist and Professor Diana DiGennaro for their commitment to the academic success of students of color.
Our theme this year was, “Tu eres mi otro yo, por eso seguimos pa’lante; you are my other self, and so, we persevere.”that everyone has wisdom and knowledge to share. We hope everyone left that night with the reminder that when we come together as one we are stronger and more resilient than when we are alone. The Hon. Cruz Reynoso Fellowship is a great example of the power and impact that community can have. Back in 2002, La Raza Law Students Association created the fellowship for members pursuing social justice internships and judicial externships. Over the first two years of the fellowships the association raised $60K to start the fellowship. The fellowship has now been sustained for seventeen years through the collective contributions of students, alumni, non-profits, law firms, and allies who understand the value of serving communities who lack access and believe that everyone deserves justice. This year we kept that legacy alive by awarding the largest number of scholarships in the history of the fellowship, and raising over 60K to continue the fight ahead!
California Supreme Court Visit
On March 6, 2018, a group of Raza students attended the oral argument at the Supreme Court of California. We were able to hear three cases argued both by private and government attorneys. One of the cases focused on conditions imposed after bond. The second case dealt with the scope of habeas corpus jurisdiction in order to make a record of “mitigating evidence tied" to youth.
For some of us, this was the first time we had watched oral arguments. It was fascinating to see the various strategies employed by the attorneys. It became clear to us what made an attorney an effective advocator and what behavior we should stray away from.
After some lunch, we were invited to Justice Cuéllar's chambers where we were able to ask sit down and have a discussion about what it is like to be a judge. Justice Cuéllar spoke on the difficulty of getting everybody to agree and the understanding he has gained through his role as a judge.
Womxn's Potluck Brunch
At the Lawtina brunch, Marcela graciously hosted us at her home in Lafayette. There was a beautiful array of bagels, coffee, scrambled eggs, pastries, and bacon. Araceli from the National Immigration Law Center and Judge Gonzalez-Rogers from the Norther District of California joined us in an intimate conversation about what it means to be Latina in the law. We talked about the importance of being able to talk to someone who holds different views than you, no matter what your views are. We also talked about ways the bridge the divide between public interest students and big law students, and what healthy relationships between big law and public interest lawyers can look like.
Raza Tahoe Retreat
We all need a break from our day-to-day lives every once in a while. Why not escape from our realities while building community? Last weekend, Raza students made their way from Berkeley up to Lake Tahoe for a relaxing weekend in the snow. We built snowmen, played board games, ate family-style meals and enjoyed each others’ company for the weekend. We hope we are able to continue this amazing tradition!
Latinx Leaders: Justice Cuellar & Judge Rodriguez
On Tuesday, we had the honor of hosting a conversation between our members and Justice Cuellar of the California Supreme Court and his former chief of staff, and now judge, Judge Rodriguez. Dean Chemerinsky did us the honor of introducing our speakers and then one of our co-chairs, Anya, proceeded to moderate a conversation the the judges. We talked about their backgrounds, why they decided to pursue law, details of their work including Justice Cuellar’s experience working in the Obama transition team and Judge Rodriguez's newly created civil domestic violence department. We then opened up the floor for student questions and our members asked interesting questions ranging from advice for 1Ls who don’t know what they want to do yet to what do the judges think about the executive branch’s oversight of immigration courts. The event was a blast, and we were so glad to connect with some former bears (Gonzalez ‘04) and people who wished they went to Berkeley Law!
Latinx Leaders: Hon. Macias
On Thursday, January 24th, we were extremely lucky to get a visit from Judge Elizabeth Guerrero Macías, a Superior Court Judge in Orange County. Her visit to Berkeley marked the first law school visit of her listening tour on behalf of the California Latino Judges Association's Judicial Outreach Committee. She listened to our suggestions on how to make law school more accessible to Latinx students, and we listened to her awesome life story. She told us about growing up poor and having to become the caretaker of her family at a very young age. We were particularly blown away by her tenacity. Despite growing up in a difficult situation, she became the first in her family to get a high school diploma, graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a double major, and received her JD from California Western School of Law. She says she was never daunted by not having the same "pedigree" as some of her counterparts. "What they don't know is my ganas. My motivation to succeed. I will not fail. I run circles around people who went to Harvard." After several years as a public defender, she went on to become a judge. Just two years after becoming a judge, she was supervising other judges. In addition to her hard work and determination, she credits much of her success to always working with integrity. We are incredibly proud to have her represent the Latinx community on the bench!
Zumba with Maribel
On Sunday morning, we burned off some calories together to get us ready for a day of studying. We got together on the school’s courtyard with our water bottles and high spirits. Thank you to our wonderful classmate Maribel who is a certified Zumba instructor for taking some time to teach us some cool moves while getting a good workout in! Afterwards, we indulged in some healthy snacks and went on our way to a productive Sunday. Can every Sunday be this productive?
Latinx Leaders: Julie Chavez Rodriguez
We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to chat with Julie Chavez Rodriguez (Cesar Chavez’s granddaughter) over coffee and holiday cookies. She shared her story of growing up in an activist family and attending protests as a young girl and how those experiences shaped her career and life trajectory. Ms. Rodriguez never lost her connection with her home state and now serves as Sen. Kamala Harris’ California State Director. As the state director, Ms. Rodriguez advocates for the rights of immigrants and workers in her home community. Our faculty advisor even brought her son, who shared with Ms. Rodriguez his school “hero project” that featured her grandfather. This conversation was a much-needed break from finals studying to help remind us why we are working hard to get our J.D.s!
Latinx Leaders: Cecilia Muñoz
As part of the Latinx Leaders Series, Cecilia Muñoz joined us in the afternoon to share her narrative about her journey to the White House, as the Director of Domestic Policy Council. Her story of struggle and triumph instilled a sense of inspiration and motivation to continue to do work with and for the community. With the continue need for an immigration reform, Ms. Muñoz provided valuable insights on immigration policy. Particularly, we learned first-hand about the rationales behind the immigration policies of the Obama Administration. Her deep connection to immigration sparked a vibrant conversation among our Latinx community. It was a lovely afternoon filled with anecdotes and self-reflection.
Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people, celebrate the life of and respectfully mourn the dead. For our culture, death is a natural phase in life’s long continuum. The dead are still members of the community, kept alive in memory and spirit—and during Día de los Muertos, they temporarily returned to Earth.
The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda. These altars are meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. Raza took on the task of creating an apagar to be it up on the centennial lobby of the law school to celebrate Dia de Los muertos October 31st - November 2nd.
Third General Meeting
At our third general meeting we reviewed upcoming events and made a very big announcement. This year the co-chairs and treasurer worked really hard to raise enough funds to take the whole organization on a retreat! We are planning to go some time in February and can’t wait to start planning. We also celebrated our November and December babies and we spent the rest of time playing fishbowl!
Perkins Coie Networking Etiquette Workshop
Thank you so much to Paul Navarro and Aaron Ver from Perkins Coie who came to campus last week and gave our 1Ls some essential tips on networking as students of color! Paul and Aaron gave us candid advice and perspectives on what students of color need to do differently in order to succeed in a realm that is brand new for most of us. We had a great time eating pupusas and asking questions about how to increasing our connections with firm folks at upcoming networking events!
Big Law Unveiled Panel
Together with the Law Students of African Descent (LSAD), we hosted SIX Big Law attorneys of color from all different law firms in an intimate panel for our members. This event allowed us to ask the real questions about what it means to be a person of color in the predominantly White Big Law space. After all our questions were answered, we went over to FreeHouse and enjoyed some appetizers and drinks while having casual conversations with our amazing panelists. Thank you to the sponsors of this amazing event!
Diversity in Big Law Panel with Sidley
We were very fortunate to host a panel geared towards the 1L students who are interested in Big Law jobs. For those who may not know, Big Law refers to the top large law firms that provide legal counsel to some of the largest companies in the world. Shout out to the Latinx and Black attorneys who came to campus and gave the 1L's an invaluable insider view. Stay tuned- we have more exciting programming coming your way.
Cross-Affinity Mixer
In La Raza we pride ourselves on fostering the Latinx community on campus, but we are also all about strengthening our relationships with our other POC peers. This weekend La Raza hosted a cross-affinity mixer along with the Law Students of African Descent, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and Native American Law Students Associations at Berkeley Law! One of our lovely 1Ls hosted us in his home for a mixer before we all headed out to a club in Oakland. It was a great night of dancing, fun, and meeting friends in other groups.
Know Your Rights Screening
On Tuesday evening of October 16, Kiki Tapiero from Berkeley Immigration Group and La Raza, and Sam Hamilton, from Berkeley Law's chapter of National Lawyers' Guild, facilitated a know your rights workshop at the multicultural community center. The first half of the presentation consisted of watching videos created by the NLG and discussing it, and the second half of the presentation was moderated by Hamid Yazdah Panah and Ana Rodriguez. They helped answer questions and present about the importance of rapid response. One of the most important take-aways from the presentation was to call the hotline before sharing anything about ICE raids on social media, so that you don't create false panics in the community.
Renato Puga Memorial Scholarship Ceremony
On Monday night, we celebrated the first two recipients of the The Renato Puga Garcia Memorial Scholarship, Elizabeth Lee and Maribel Garcia Ochoa, and remembered our dear friend and colleague Renato. We ate delicious enchiladas and heard from Professor Hurley, Professor Haney Lopez, and an alumni who knew Renato, Pedro Viramontes. We laughed and cried over our memories of our dear friend, but we also celebrated the accomplishments of the two recipients and their past, present, and future contributions to the Latinx communities.
The scholarship was started in late 2017 by La Raza Law Students Association and La Raza Law Journal at Berkeley Law in honor of our friend Renato, who was an active member of both organizations. Renato was born In Morelia, Mexico and received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Butler University. During law school, he was also captain of the Boalt Hall Soccer Club and a summer associate for Cooley, LLP in San Diego. Renato was an exceptional student but most importantly he was deeply committed to the Latinx community. Through this scholarship, we hope to continue Renato’s legacy and commitment to the Latinx community, but we also aim to provide support to Latinx students and ensure their success in law school.
If you would like to help contribute to the scholarship, you can venom donations @RenatoPG_Scholarship
Any contributions will be greatly appreciated.
Alumni Weekend Breakfast
We hosted an open house of our La Raza Association Officer with a light breakfast for our alumni to be able to visit and reminisce about the space that they helped us secure. Breakfast ranged from bagels to pan dulce and orange juice to coffee. Our Association Office is a sacred space for many of us and we recognize that we would not have this space if it had not been for those who came before us, our La Raza alumni. We had a great time chatting with alumni Cecilia Rendon and Marisa Arrona, both Class of 2003. They were able to take pictures and teach us a bit about our La Raza history.
Alumni Weekend Mixer
Alumni Weekend was a great time for both alumni and current students. Alumni got to reminisce about their time in law school, while students were able to absorb some of the wisdom of those who had been in their footsteps before. The school hosted an Alumni of Color Cocktail Hour before Friday's bbq, but La Raza and LSAD kept the celebration going by hosting an Alumni Mixer after the bbq. It was amazing to talk to Raza alumni and hear what the school was like at a time when there was much more hostility towards students of color. Some alumna talked about how much they appreciated their 1L Property professor who dared to talk about critical race in the classroom. (Sound familiar? They were talking about our very own Ian Haney López!) We appreciated their stories and perspectives and hope they'll come back again soon!
