CUA Cover Winter 2005 final (Page 2) - Columbus School of Law

R S V P : W I L L A T T E N DMore on the WayThe law school’s marquee symposia continue to grow invision and ambition.• As they have so often in the past, the students of CommLawConspectus: Journal of Communications Law & Policy andCUA’s Institute for Communications Law Studies are againleading the way. On March 13, 2008, the group will producea high-powered symposium titled “The 2008 Election: TheRole and Influence of 21st Century Media.”“This year’s spring symposium will also be great as a casestudy of engaged students, working with faculty support, tochoose a topic and attract astonishing speakers,” saysProfessor Irwin, director of the institute.• On Feb. 22, 2008, the Catholic University Law Review willpresent “A Tribute to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor:Reflecting on Justice O’Connor’s Jurisprudence Relating toRace and Education.” The panel of presenters is still a workin progress, but Editor-in-Chief Maureen Smith expectsthat the event will not only publicize the law school, but alsoattract positive attention from practitioners, law professors,and law students in the area.“Given the two Supreme Court cases decided last term thatdealt with the role of race in education, this topic is timely, controversialand likely to ignite a wealth of intellectual discussion,”says Smith.Catholic University’s law students show no sign of scalingback their ambitious endeavors. They have always understood, ashave their faculty advisers, that a legal education worthy of thename encompasses the real world beyond textbooks and classroomwalls.“Every year seems uniquely challenging,” sums up ProfessorIrwin. “It takes collective brain-power to tailor a topic that hasbroad appeal — a topic that will draw moderators, panelists andparticipants, and which will attract an audience.”Students are up for the challenge. Many times, they seem topick up the ball and run with it on their own. They will continueto sweep their intellectual spotlight over topics that affect usall, and offer a CUA law platform to speakers that have somethingvaluable to contribute.Thoughtfulness, relevance and access to society’s leaders havebecome trademarks for the law school’s speaking programs. Aninvitation to visit and participate carries an extra cachet when it isstamped: From the Students of the Columbus School of Law.Case Study: Scott Rembrandt Wallops a DoubleScott Rembrandt, 4E, has a knack for packingthem in. He was the primary studentorganizer for two of the most successful2007 law school symposia, both dealingwith Africa.An experienced planner, Rembrandtorganizes up to 20 university seminarsaround the country each year as directorfor research and academic affairs at a thinktank called the Korea Economic Institute.His event projects at CUA law wereheld barely two weeks apart. One dealtwith the spread of the HIV virus acrossthe African continent and the other withways to achieve peace in Sudan.Rembrandt spent countless hoursfinessing the myriad details that attendedeach discussion. What should theintroductory remarks say? Which mediashould be invited? What kind of technicalsupport was needed for visuals? Hishard work and careful attention to theminutiae of details paid off. Both of thetalks drew a healthy audience of CUAstudents and faculty and garnered favorablemedia coverage as well.Rembrandt began laying the groundworkfor the symposia many monthsbefore. In February 2007, he approachedthe law school administration with a proposal.Why not create a National SecurityLaw Speakers Series featuring prominentU.S. government officials, with the Militaryand National Security Law StudentsAssociation to serve as main sponsor ofthe twice-per-semester lectures.After giving the proposal seriousconsideration, law school administratorstested the idea by approving the invitationof Daniel Glaser, a deputy assistantfrom the Treasury Department, to comeand speak about ways to cut off terroristfinancing. Glaser’s talk generated a greatdeal of interest. Convinced of its appeal,the university now supports the fullfledgedspeaker series.LessonsRembrandt’s experiences so far convincehim that “officials jump at the chanceto come to Catholic’s law school.”ItsWashington location makes it an attractiveand convenient destination for top governmentofficials and other prominent speakers.Perhaps surprisingly, top experts insubjects other than law are rarely invited tolaw schools. More typically, they receivespeaking opportunities from programs ininternational relations,political science or publicpolicy.“The fact that studentorganizations areinviting them, asopposed to faculty membersor administrationofficials, only heightensthe interest of speakersin coming,” he says. Scott RembrandtBy all accounts, theColumbus School of Law’s academicguests are delighted that they said yes tothe opportunity to speak. They have indicatedgreat satisfaction to program sponsorswith the audience size, the intelligenceof the questions they receive andthe enthusiasm of the students during theprograms and receptions afterward.“I’m optimistic that everyone we’veinvited thus far would come back toCatholic law,” says Rembrandt. “We areall emissaries of the school. High-profileevents are first and foremost meant toshowcase the quality of the law school,its faculty and most importantly, its studentbody to the larger policy-makingcommunity in Washington.”20CUALAWYER /Fall–Winter 2007