College of Law News Welcome the Class of 2020 and LL.M. Class of 2018 A little more than a month ago we welcomed 203 new J.D. students and 24 LL.M. students to the College of Law. The Orientation Week program was a great success, with more than 35 alumni giving their time to participate in panel discussions of specialized areas of the law, the future of the profession, and the importance of cross-cultural competency in our profession. I was pleased to moderate two panels and was impressed by the students’ engagement and close attention to the discussions. Other highlights of the week included the convocation address, delivered by Frank W. Ryan IV L’94, and the alumni welcome given by Colleen Gibbons L’17. Feedback from the students was overwhelmingly positive. They were in awe of our alumni’s accomplishments and stature in the profession and felt warmly welcomed into the College of Law community. Thank you for making a positive, early impact on this impressive class of students. Here are some details about the incoming classes: J.D. Class of 2020 (bold indicates improvement from Class of 2019): • LSAT percentiles: 75th = 156; Median = 154; 25th = 150
• GPA percentiles: 75th = 3.61; Median = 3.39; 25th = 3.05
• Gender ratios: Males 108/53.2%; Females 95/46.8%
• Diversity percentage: 27% (55 of 203 students)
• States represented: 30 (53% are from New York)
• Veterans: 11
• Related to College of Law alums: 9 LL.M. Class of 2018: • Countries represented: 14
• Fulbright Scholars: 3 We also welcomed two students to our two-year J.D. program, one from the Republic of South Korea and the other from Saudi Arabia. Help Us Recruit the Class of 2021 Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management Nick Wallace and his team are already recruiting the Class of 2021, and our goal is to enroll one of the strongest entering classes in recent history. To support their efforts, please consider volunteering to connect with admitted students and to share your stories about the impact the College has had on your life and career. Your positive influence will help us yield the highest scoring applicants possible. In fact, there are a variety of ways to get involved. If you would like to help our efforts, please contact Assistant Director of Admissions Kelly Brant at ktbrant@law.syr.edu. Stacey Wiley L’00 Returns to lead the Office of Career Services It is always a positive sign when our alumni want to join the College of Law and help guide future generations of students. I am excited that Stacey Wiley L’00 has returned to the College as Director of Career Services. Stacey was most recently Director of Career Development at State University of New York (SUNY) College at Geneseo. Before that, she served as Assistant Dean for Career and Student Affairs at Quinnipiac University School of Law and as Associate Director of Career Services at Cornell Law School. She brings a strong career service and professional development background to her role as we strive to ensure that every one of our graduates finds a rewarding and satisfying career. I am sure many of you will get to know Stacey, or reconnect with her, soon. You can reach her at sawiley@law.syr.edu or 315.443.1941. Welcome, Stacey! Building Bridges to the Legal Community Strengthening the College’s relationships with the local and regional legal community is critical to bringing meaningful educational opportunities to Dineen Hall. To that end, I am happy to report a new partnership with the Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association (NDNY FCBA). The NDNY FCBA and the College’s Institute for Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media will co-host a CLE event during this year’s reunion weekend program—United States Supreme Court: 2017-2018 Term—on Oct. 20, 2017. Join Us! I am also thrilled that we’ve partnered with the New York State Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Section to bring the Advanced Trial Academy program to Dineen Hall this fall. Building on the basic Trial Academy at Cornell Law in the spring, this exclusive advanced workshop will provide New York practitioners an opportunity to deepen their trial skills. As part of our partnership with NYSBA, we secured the opportunity for our students to compete for a slot in the program, which makes this program unique. Alumni Involvement Makes the Difference in Externships
In every issue of my Dean’s Dispatch, I take great pride in highlighting the many ways that you, our alumni, contribute to our mission. This fall, some of you are yet again making special appearances in our externship program. In Washington, DC, for instance, four alumni will serve as speakers at special events designed to amplify the DCEx experience and to help acclimate externs to the professional world from a practitioner’s point of view: • Joseph Di Scipio L’95, Senior Vice President, Legal and FCC Compliance, Fox Television Stations
• Kevin Minsky L’94, Associate General Counsel, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Candice Geller L’16, Honors Attorney, Employment Law and Labor Branch, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice
• Kurt Wimmer L’85, Partner and Chair, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice, Covington & Burling LLP In many ways, alumni that graciously host our students are the backbone of our externship program. This fall, our alumni hosts for the DCEx program are: • Jennifer Holtz L’08, Deputy Division Chief, Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability, Federal Communications Commission, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Policy and Licensing Division
• Michael Berkow L’81, Director, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service
• The Hon. Dennis L. Phillips L’81, U.S. Administrative Law Judge, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
• The Hon. J. Jeremiah Mahoney L’69, Chief Administrative Law Judge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Hearings and Appeals Coming Back Together 
Last week I had the honor of hosting several African American and Latino College of Law alumni who returned to campus for the University’s Coming Back Together celebration. Current College of Law and other University students joined us for a lunch reception in Dineen Hall. As part of the University’s extensive programming for the weekend, a number of College of Law alumni participated in panel discussions across campus. Vincent Cohen, Jr. L’95 (Dechert LLP) and Jose Perez L’07 (Law Offices of Jose Perez, PC) participated on a Community Law panel; Keisha Audain Pressley L’00 (PIMCO) spoke on Careers in Banking and the Financial Industry; and Lori Anne Douglass L’87 (Moses Singer) participated in the Retirement Planning Seminar. | 
