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KU law students receive public interest stipends for summer work
LAWRENCE — Twenty-three University of Kansas School of Law students have received stipends to complete summer volunteer work for the benefit of communities in Kansas and beyond.
Thanks to generous alumni and faculty support, and the fundraising efforts of two student organizations, the law school was able to award a record number of stipends, totaling more than $23,000. The students will serve underrepresented populations in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Pennsylvania, and tackle difficult legal questions in California, Utah and Geneva, Switzerland.
KU Endowment manages funds for the stipends. They include:
— Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowships to Susan Alig, Leawood; Ashly Basgall, Great Bend; Katie Bray, Topeka; Brooke Edenfield, Aurora, Mo.; Christopher Griffith, Kansas City, Mo., and Birmingham, England; Elizabeth Harmon, Overland Park; Joseph Hinckley, Salt Lake City, Utah; Shayla Lewis, Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Megan McGinnis, Kansas City, Kan.; Catherine McLeod, Lenexa; Pilar Mitchell, Chino Hills, Calif.; Brandon Nakada, Laguna Niguel, Calif.; and Ryan Rash, Oklahoma City, Okla.
— Davenport Public Interest Fellowships to Dwight Alexander, Naperville, Ill.; Shannon Hackett, Honolulu, Hawaii; and Kristopher Marshall, Wichita.
— Jana Mackey Public Interest Fellowships to Jennifer Scales, Girard, and Adil Saleem, Sugar Land, Texas.
— Lyons Public Interest Fellowships to Daniel Conklin, Kalamazoo, Mich., and Juliann Morland, Girard.
— Public Interest Law Society Public Interest Fellowships to Heidi Nowotny, Weston, Mo., and Duncanville, Texas; and Baylee Suskin, Parker, Ariz.
— Women in Law Public Interest Fellowship to Dana Watts, Syracuse.
KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit foundation serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.
Students are listed below by hometown, parents’ names, high school and undergraduate institution or KU degree, public interest stipend and funding category and name and place of summer internship.
BARTON COUNTY
From Great Bend 67530
Ashly Basgall, daughter of Timothy Basgall and Jeanette LoBurgio; Great Bend High School; bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and English from KU, summer 2001; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Franklin County Attorney’s Office, Ottawa, and Archaeological Research Center, KU.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
From Girard 66743
Juliann Morland, daughter of William and Laura Morland; Girard High School; Pittsburg State University; Lyons Public Interest Fellowship, Illinois Migrant Legal Assistance Project, Carbondale, Ill.
Jennifer Scales, daughter of Pete Scales and Ruth Scales; Girard High School; bachelor’s degrees in English and theatre and film from KU, fall 2003; Jana Mackey Public Interest Fellowship, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
HAMILTON COUNTY
From Syracuse 67878
Dana Watts, daughter of Doug and Becky Wallace; Syracuse High School; Pittsburg State University; Women in Law Public Interest Fellowship, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Geneva, Switzerland.
JOHNSON COUNTY
From Leawood 66209
Susan Alig, daughter of David Alig and Sandra Ryals Alig; Shawnee Mission East High School; bachelor’s degrees in history and French from KU, spring 2008; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Franklin County Attorney’s Office, Ottawa.
From Lenexa 66219
Catherine McLeod, daughter of Brad and Debbie McLeod; St. Thomas Aquinas High School; bachelor’s degree in English from KU, spring 2006; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka.
From Overland Park 66214
Elizabeth Harmon, daughter of Steve and Melissa Harmon; Shawnee Mission South High School; bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in business from KU, spring 2008; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita 67235
Kristopher Marshall, son of Michael and Maria Marshall; Bishop Carroll Catholic High School; bachelor’s degree in history from KU, fall 2005; Davenport Public Interest Fellowship, Missouri State Public Defender, Kansas City, Mo..
SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka 66604
Katie Bray, daughter of Michael Bray and Lesa Roberts; Topeka West High School; Missouri State University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Best Friends Animal Society, Maryville, Ill.
WYANDOTTE COUNTY
From Kansas City 66104
Megan McGinnis, daughter of Joni Fellows; Sumner Academy of Arts and Science; bachelor’s degree in political science from KU, fall 2006; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, Kansas City, Mo..
ARIZONA
From Parker 85344
Baylee Suskin, daughter of Steve Suskin and Mary Akerstein; Arcadia High School; Wellesley College; Public Interest Law Society Public Interest Fellowship, Kansas Legal Services, Topeka.
CALIFORNIA
From Chino Hills 91709
Pilar Mitchell, daughter of Sara Mitchell and the late Jonathan Mitchell; The Webb Schools of California; Pepperdine University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, San Bernardino, Calif.
From Laguna Niguel 92677
Brandon Nakada, son of Steven and Patricia Nakada; Aliso Niguel High School; University of California-Berkeley; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Los Angeles City Attorney, Los Angeles, Calif.
HAWAII
From Honolulu 96815
Shannon Hackett, daughter of Chang Yool Kim and Kun Cha Kim; Education Laboratory School; Graceland University; Davenport Public Interest Fellowship, Missouri State Public Defender, Kansas City, Mo.
ILLINOIS
From Naperville 60564
Dwight Alexander, son of Dwight and Robin Alexander; Neuqua Valley High School; Kansas State University; Davenport Public Interest Fellowship, Unified Government of Wyandotte County Legal Department, Kansas City, Kan..
MICHIGAN
From Kalamazoo 49009
Daniel Conklin, son of Dan and Lucy Conklin; Hackett Catholic Central; University of Michigan; Lyons Public Interest Fellowships, Friends of Farmworkers, Philadelphia.
MISSOURI
From Aurora 65605
Brooke Edenfield, daughter of Bruce and Vickie Blake; Aurora High School; Washington University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowships, Leavenworth County Attorney’s Office, Leavenworth.
From Kansas City 64111 and Birmingham, England
Christopher Griffith, son of Mark Kabak and Carrie Kabak; Lincoln College Prep Academy; University of Missouri-Kansas City; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Kansas Legal Services, Topeka.
From Lee’s Summit 64081
Shayla Lewis, daughter of Robert and Marquita Lewis; Lee’s Summit High School; Park University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
From Weston 64098 and Duncanville, Texas
Heidi Nowotny, daughter of Dr. Robert and Jan Mugele of Duncanville, Texas; Duncanville High School; bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from KU, fall 2007; Public Interest Law Society Public Interest Fellowships; Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
OKLAHOMA
From Oklahoma City 73127
Ryan Rash, son of Richard and Jeane Rash; North Mesquite (Texas) High School; Haskell Indian Nations University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Tribal Law and Policy Institute, West Hollywood, Calif.
TEXAS
From Duncanville 75137 and Weston, Mo.
Heidi Nowotny. See MISSOURI
From Sugar Land 77498
Adil Saleem, son of Mohammed and Rukhsana Saleem; Kempner High School; University of Houston; Jana Mackey Public Interest Fellowship, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
UTAH
From Salt Lake City 84105
Joseph Hinckley, son of Clark B. and Kathleen H. Hinckley; East High School; Brigham Young University; Board of Governors Public Interest Fellowship, Judge Royal I. Hansen, Third District Court of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
UNITED KINGDOM
From Birmingham and Kansas City, Mo.
Christopher Griffith. See MISSOURI
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