| NAME | |
| Melanie Rowen | |
| mrowen@berkeley.edu | |
| DEPARTMENT/UNIT | |
| Career Development Office | |
| TITLE | |
| Associate Director for Public Interest Programs | |
| WHEN I STARTED WORKING HERE: | |
| January 2012 | |
| WHAT I DO IN FIVE WORDS OR LESS: | |
| Advise public interest-oriented students | |
| THE BEST PART ABOUT WORKING HERE: | |
| Working with students who are overcoming tremendous challenges just to be here, and who have radical visions for the future. They expand my thinking about what’s possible, and I try to reflect that hope and confidence back to them when they are doubting themselves. | |
| SOMETHING YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME: | |
| In high school, I played Snoopy in a production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, which involved dancing on top of a 12-foot-high doghouse and then sliding down the roof for the big finale. I regret nothing. | |
| ONE OR TWO TIPS ABOUT THINGS YOU LIKE TO DO AROUND THE BAY AREA: | |
| It’s hard to identify obscure facts about Palo Alto, but according to Wikipedia, the coast redwood for which the town is named (El Palo Alto), is over 1,050 years old. It originally had three trunks, of which only one remains standing. Another trunk fell in an 1886 flood and windstorm, and “no one knows what happened” to the other. | |
| UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO | |
ESU AND Symposium on Habeas IN WAR TIME
The ESU members, Thembianne Jackson, Victoria Berdin, and Nancy Donovan played a major role in the CLR sponsored Symposium on Habeas in War Time held on April 6th. Special shout out to them and other ESU colleagues in a job well done. As we have come to expect ESU “hit it out the park” again with their expertise and professionalism.
Major Shout Out to all!!!
Prof. Nancy Lemon’s new book
The fifth edition of Nancy Lemon’s seminal textbook, Domestic Violence Law, has been published by West Academic Publishing. Nancy’s expertise in the field includes creating and teaching the first law school class on the subject beginning in 1988 here at Berkeley Law.
The book covers many topics in 17 chapters, including the US legal system’s historical approach to domestic violence, statistics, different theories about causes of this epidemic, cultures without domestic violence, and how domestic violence impacts different groups differently (ethnic and religious groups, GLBTQ, and disabled people). It also includes chapters on torts, restraining orders, children, alternative dispute resolution, marital rape, law enforcement, prosecution, survivors of abuse as criminal defendants, judges, federal laws, housing/employment/public benefits, and ends with international human rights and asylum.)
Olivia Layug-Balbarin is a Rock Star!
The Clinical Program is currently down one staff member (due to Farrah Fanara’s fabulous promotion to Director of the Visiting Scholars Program!) and if Olivia hadn’t stepped up and helped out, I would have been completely buried. Her competent and gracious support has made my life MUCH MUCH better and she totally deserves this Shout Out – Thanks a million Olivia!
Thank you to Claudia Alvarenga and Caroline Cheng
We would like to send a really special shout and a very big thank you to Claudia Alvarenga and Caroline Cheng for going above and beyond to help the Field Placement and Pro Bono Programs in our time of need. We appreciate all your help and support!
Sue Schechter and Deborah Schlosberg
Jim Fahey Safe Homes for Women Awards
On April 17, 2018, 6 students received the Jim Fahey Safe Homes for Women award, including a check for $900 each. This award is given annually by Nancy K. D. Lemon, Lecturer in Domestic Violence Law. The Jim Fahey Safe Homes Fund for Women endowment was established in 2007 to provide scholarships for graduate students at UC Berkeley with demonstrated financial need and a strong aptitude in relevant subjects as well as a deep commitment to combating domestic violence against women. Awards have been made each spring since 2011. This year the award went to an equal number of students graduating in law and social welfare. Photo, left to right: Ali Sadler (law), Michelle Unjung Kim (law), Nancy Lemon, Karina Sweitzer (social welfare), Erica West (social welfare), Emma Halling (law), and Iris Lin (social welfare). Congratulations!
Equal Justice Society – Anti-bias workshop
Professor Henry Hecht would like to spread the word about an upcoming social justice event happening at the Oakland Marriott on June 22 and 23.
The Equal Justice Society, an Oakland non-profit headed by Berkeley Law alumna Eva Paterson ’75, presents Fighting Racism and Other Forms of Bias: What’s Working! –a two-day workshop convening activists, academics, and attorneys to focus on how we can reduce or counteract bias.
Topics of discussion will include:
- Responding to assaults on implicit bias
- Effective strategies for reducing bias
- Interplay between mind science and white supremacy
- Practical approaches to reduce bias in various fields such as Healthcare/Medicine, Criminal Justice, Education, Tech, Housing, and Employment
- Mind science in the 2016 elections and beyond
- Debugging implicit bias through storytelling
- Plus a film screening & discussion of Healing Justice, a film that explores the causes and consequences of the current North American justice system and its effect on marginalized communities. Director Shakti Butler will also be speaking at the conference.
Several members of the Berkeley Law community are participating as speakers, including Tirien Steinbach ’99, executive director of the East Bay Community Law Center.
If you would like more information or to register, please check out the event website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fighting-racism-and-other-forms-of-bias-whats-working-registration-44566048250
Mad Love
We have the best IT team. Everyone in IT is friendly, competent, hard-working and caring. Y’all are some of my favorite people to work with. I think all of us at Berkeley Law can say the same. Thank you so much for trouble-shooting our problems and delivering top-notch service. I’ve got mad love and respect for you all.
Chihuahualicious!
Lucy Rachwald adopted her family at the Oakland SPCA five years ago, and she has won the best family member award by unanimous vote ever since. Every day, she enjoys sunbathing on the balcony, celebrating everyone’s return home, and barking at anyone who comes close to the house, making the doorbell no longer necessary.
Thank you FSU & Janine Nesset Tominaga!
Last week, the CDO hosted our Annual Clerkship Celebration. In the 2018-19 term, 92 Berkeley Law graduates will be clerking in 33 different states – a Berkeley Law record. 60 members of the Class of 2018 earned federal and state judicial clerkships – 52 will be clerking in the 2018 term and 8 will be clerking in future terms. An additional 40 Berkeley Law graduates from previous classes will be clerking in the 2018 term.
In addition to recognizing all of our future judicial clerks, I also acknowledged my two most valuable partners in this process – the Faculty Support Unit (FSU) and Janine Nesset Tominaga.
Each and every year, the FSU processes thousands of clerkship recommendation letters – often on short notice and on top of the significant responsibilities that FSU staff members have on any given day.
Janine Nesset Tominaga plays a vital behind the scenes role in keeping the clerkship process moving for all of the students and alums who are applying. She works tirelessly to make sure clerkship applicants have all the logistical support they need in order to succeed.
I am so grateful to the FSU and Janine for their hard work and dedication to this process. The success of our program is due in large part to the role that the FSU and Janine play. Thank you FSU and Janine for all you do! We look forward to celebrating you all at our Annual Summer FSU Appreciation Lunch!
PICTURE:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BcOspySRNzlzEXhaow33krCczBaU1K6b