Maria Ku, a CPA and mom to one of our members, gave a presentation about financial planning for La Raza students and guests on fNovember 13, 2019. She spoke about how to manage student debt and finances for our financial wellbeing in the long term. About thirty students attended the event and greek food was served. We covered budgeting skills, making moves to boost your credit score, loan repayment options, the value of compound interest when saving, and different types of retirement plans, amongst other topics.
Lunch with Judges-In-Residence
On September 23, 2019, La Raza students were invited to have a private lunch with Berkeley Law’s Judges-In-Residence. The conversation was moderated by Anya Ku (‘20) who asked the judge to share about their paths to law school, their experiences as attorneys, and their current jobs as judges. We also discussed the importance of clerkships, and when asked “how many of you are think about clerking?” nearly all members raised their hands. La Raza is honored to have been offered this opportunity and is excited to continue supporting our members with all of their aspirations including clerkships!
2nd Annual Latinx Judicial Panel
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.
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.
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!
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.
