Dennis E. Benner, Giving Back - Thomas M. Cooley Law School

alumni matters30 Michaelmas Term 2005alumninewsGrand Rapids Area Alums, Staff, andStudents Socialize in OctoberCooley’s western Michigan alumni and current studentsgathered on Oct. 27 in the new Law Center located at 111Commerce Avenue, SW, in downtown Grand Rapids,Michigan. Twenty-seven alumni, students, faculty, staff andfriends of the law school joined the hosts at the AlumniReception and Student Mixer.Associate Dean of the Grand Rapids campus MarionHilligan (Johnson Class, 1989) and Alumni RelationsDirector Darryl Parsell (Wiest Class, 1979) welcomed theguests to the campus. Alumni co-hosts, Grand Rapids Headof Public Services Aletha Honsowitz (Witherell Class, 1990)and Lisa Pohl (Kuhn Class, 1995) were a great help as theymet and registered all of the guests.Additional Cooley faculty and staff attending the receptionand mixer included Professor Curt Benson (Mundy Class,1986), Professor Alan Blakley, Professor Lynn Branham, GRCampus Career Services Coordinator Danielle Hall (BlairClass, 2001), GR Campus Director C J Kruska, GR AssistantDean Nelson Miller, Professor Mike Molitor, Professor DonPetersen, Director of Auxiliary Services Fred Puffenberger,and GR Deputy Campus Director Joan Rosema-David (JayClass, 2000).In addition to the staff and distinguished guests alreadymentioned, alumni attending included Maureen Burns VanHoven (Grant Class, 1987), Charles Clapp (Long Class,1981), Michael DeYoung (Boyles Class, 2005), MyraDutton-Johnson (Kuhn Class, 1995), Stacy Flanery(McAllister Class, 2005), Gordon Haan (Swainson Class,2003), Janet Haynes (Kavanagh Class, 1981), ColleenKlesmith (Whipple Class, 1985), Judy Kruger (NeedhamClass, 2004), Steve Savickas (Witherell Class, 1990), andBradford Winkler (Stone Class, 1996).Current students enjoyed the opportunity to network with thegraduates. Students at the mixer included PatriciaGelderloos, Mykisha Jordan, Paul Konggaard, MichaelLichterman, Don Stauffer, and Robin Wohlberg.Cooley Law School Hosts November AlumniReception at Oakland UniversityCooley Law School hosted an alumni reception and studentmixer at OU’s Oakland Center on Nov. 3. Twenty-eightguests, including grads from the southeastern Michigan areaalumni club joined Legal Counsel and Associate Dean ofDevelopment Jim Robb and Alumni Relations Director DarrylParsell (Wiest Class, 1979) for the evening in Rochester Hills.Southeast Michigan alumni leaders Michelle Esperance(Weadock Class, 1999) and Mark Lyon (Cooley Class,1976) co-hosted the event with Mr. Parsell and Mr. Robb.Current student Diea Krowik staffed a table with informationon the Cooley Law Review and explained how graduatesare invited to submit articles for publication in that journal.The Cooley contingent included Professor Karen Chadwick,Reference Librarian Marlene Coir, Professor Mark Cooney(Montgomery Class, 1992), Professor Dan Matthews,Professor Martha Moore, Director of the Tax LL.M ProgramGina Torielli, and Assistant Cooley/OU Dean and ProfessorJoan Vestrand.The alumni guests included Demetrius Ford (Wilson Class,2001), Amer Hakim (Chase Class, 2002), Carol Hogan(Manning Class, 1984), Hadeel Jarbo (Montgomery Class,1992), Donald Pelland (Cross Class, 2004), Tom Rombach(Morse Class, 1987), Renee Schattler-Houk (Toy Class,2003), and Greg Thatcher (Swainson Class, 2003).Current Cooley students also attended the event, includingBarry Malone, Kelly Parfitt, Marcia Spivey, Jaron Thompson,Alice Tremont, and Dan Wagnitz. The students particularlyenjoyed the stories that graduates told of their days attendinglaw school, as it was a very different experience in theearly years. Also, the graduates inspired the students withtheir present day success and their encouragement to perseverein their studies.NC Area Alums Join Prof. Tombers forOctober Charlotte ReceptionCooley’s North Carolina alumni gathered in downtownCharlotte on Oct. 19 for an alumni reception at the SonomaBistro, with co-hosts Professor Evelyn Tombers (LawrenceClass, 1991) and Tia Hartley (Flannigan Class, 1999). Fouralumni and a current student joined the hosts at the reception.Prof. Tombers brought the group the latest news fromCooley. Professor Tombers noted that the alumni wereextremely interested in forming a regional alumni association.The seasoned alumni were committed to help the neweralumni learn about the Charlotte legal community andopportunities within that area.Ms. Hartley said “I know everyone was excited about findingout that there already was an alumni association, andthat now, hopefully with renewed interest and resources, itcould be a great organization for us all.”She added that “I have a very strong interest in making surethat alums from my alma mater do well and that was a sentimentthat all of the alumni present felt, because it builds upour school's positive reputation in different parts of thecountry. The great thing about Cooley is that we have awonderful network of alumni all over the country, and weneed to tap into that.”In addition to the hosts, the guests included Hal Berger(Voelker Class, 1997), Eric Galuszka (Paterson Class,2002), Lisa Marie Johnson (Boyles Class, 2005), JosephLatour (Starr Class, 2005) and student Cianti Stewart-Reid.BENCHMARK