ā€œA Changing Landscape: Immigration Law in the 21st Centuryā€ will bring attorneys and scholars to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ School of Law in downtown Greensboro on Friday, Sept. 25, to examine the complexities of the nationā€™s laws and policies.

The symposium will explore how questions surrounding borders, power and the rule of law intersect with contemporary legal challenges. Speakers will address asylum, policy changes, family immigration law, as well as employment and humanitarian issues at the day-long event.

A Changing Landscape: Immigration Law in the 21st Century

Friday, Sept. 25, 2026

9 a.m. ā€“ 4 p.m.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ School of Law

201 N. Greene St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Please register early to reserve a spot.

Keynote Address

ā€œThe Complexities of Immigration Policyā€

Hillary Walsh, founder of New Frontier Immigration and TEDx speaker

Panel Discussions

Seeking Asylum ā€“ Hands-On Immigration Law

• Dara Arroyo-Longoria Lā€™22, attorney at McKinney Immigration Law
• Heather Scavone, assistant professor of law and former associate counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

American Immigration

• Jordin Dickerson, assistant professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke
• Tolulope Folokun, assistant professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
• Allen Orr Jr., founder and principal attorney of Orr Immigration Law Firm

The Family Immigration Landscape

• Kailey Houck, judicial law clerk for Justice Melissa Hart and Justice Susan Blanco of the Colorado Supreme Court
• Maria Rosales, executive director of FaithAction International

In addition to the keynote address and panel discussions, the symposium will feature remarks from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Dean Zak Kramer; Chief Symposium Editor Rose Peterson Lā€™26; Co-Symposium Editors Abigail MacKnight Lā€™26 and Lauren Collins Lā€™26; and ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Review Editor-in-Chief Rachel Claffee Lā€™26.

About ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Review

The ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Review is a student-edited legal journal that publishes scholarship examining emerging issues and developments in the law. Through its scholarship and annual symposium, the Law Review fosters legal dialogue among scholars, attorneys, judges and students while contributing to the study and practice of law.

About ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time Residency-in-Practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law schoolā€™s distinctive curriculum offers a logically sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, providing exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law has graduated more than 2,000 alumni since its establishment in downtown Greensboro in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 600 students, and the law school is regularly featured in the top tier of preLaw Magazineā€™s ā€œBest Schools for Practical Trainingā€ rankings.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law offers full-time legal education in Greensboro and a part-time, in-person Flex Program in Charlotte. In 2026, the American Bar Association approved ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law to expand its signature 2.5-year J.D. program to Charlotte.

Beginning in Fall 2027, students in Charlotteā€™s full-time and Flex programs will attend classes on the Queens University of Charlotte campus in Myers Park. ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law will continue to offer its full-time 2.5-year J.D. program at its downtown Greensboro campus.

They were selected from a record pool of more than 230 applicants to the part-time, evening, in-person program hosted at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ’s Charlotte Center.

Nearly 120 students are enrolled in the program as it enters its third year. Designed for place-bound students balancing law school with jobs and other commitments, the Flex Program offers a path to a law degree that can be completed in about three years and eight months ā€” meaning this year’s new students could graduate as soon as March 2030 ā€” with the flexibility to adjust their pace and extend studies if needed.

Vice Dean and Professor of Law Alan Woodlief welcomed the class during Convocation ceremonies on Aug. 10 highlighting the academic achievement and professional experience its members bring to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law.

ā€œYou were selected based on your many prior achievements, your demonstrated passion for studying law, and your immense potential for success in law school and in serving others through the legal profession,ā€ Woodlief said. ā€œYou should be proud of your admission to the Flex Program and motivated to live up to the high expectations we have for you.ā€

48 ā€” Total Enrollment of the Entering Class of Fall 2026

154 ā€” Median LSAT

66% Female | 34% Male

31% ā€” Students of Color

29 ā€” Average Age

20+ ā€” Members holding advanced degrees

27% ā€” First-Generation College Students

Nearly 90% of incoming students are the first in their families to attend law school.

Broad professional and educational experience

Entering Flex Program students earned undergraduate degrees from 34 colleges and universities. The institutions most represented in the class include:

• UNC-Chapel Hill with six students;
• UNC Charlotte with four;
• Appalachian State University and the University of South Carolina with three students each, and;
• North Carolina State University and Winthrop University with two students each.

More than 20 undergraduate majors are represented, ranging from art history to zoology. Political science is the most common major, with 12 students, followed by criminal justice with five, psychology with four and business with three.

Two members of the class have served in the military, and several competed as varsity athletes.

The class also brings substantial professional experience to the classroom. Eleven students ā€” 23% of the class ā€” already work in the legal field, including as paralegals and legal assistants. Others have built careers in banking and finance, real estate, nursing, journalism, teaching and sports coaching.

The class also reflects the Flex Programā€™s strong regional ties. Eighty percent of students are from North Carolina, while five are from South Carolina. Other members of the class come from Utah, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.

ā€œWe look forward to witnessing firsthand your accomplishments to come ā€” over the next four years and throughout your careers as ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ lawyers ā€” as you channel this energy, focus, and commitment to excellence and service in your new chosen profession as pioneering lawyer leaders,ā€ Woodlief said.

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather III delivered the Call to Honor, challenging students to consider not only what they hope to accomplish as lawyers, but whom their work will ultimately serve.

ā€œThe lawyer, and the law student, who demonstrates fidelity to the field is always in the fight because they are thinking of what someone else needs from them ā€” fighting for someone elseā€™s interest as if it were their own,ā€ Merriweather said during ceremonies held Mon., Aug. 10, at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Charlotte Center at 330 W. Tremont Ave. in Charlotteā€™s South End neighborhood.

Merriweather leads the district attorneyā€™s office for North Carolinaā€™s 26th Prosecutorial District, the stateā€™s largest. His connection to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law is also personal: his wife, Lila Riley Lā€™10, is a member of the law schoolā€™s second graduating class.

Describing law as a vocation rooted in serving others, Merriweather reflected on experiences that shaped his own path, from witnessing lawyers pursue justice following a racially motivated killing in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, to working with a grieving father as a first-year law student interning in the Mecklenburg County District Attorneyā€™s Office.

ā€œThose who are fulfilled in this practice believe that it is something that we are called to do,ā€ Merriweather said. ā€œIf you truly commit to pursuit of this practice, you do so because you believe that you have a charge to keep: to speak up for someone, and to tell someoneā€™s story with full impact.ā€

Merriweather urged students to:

• Be ambitious, curious, studious and sharp, while never losing sight of the people the law is meant to serve.
• Build a reputation for integrity. Ā Future clients and colleagues must be able to rely on a lawyerā€™s word, competence and credibility.
• Find your own sense of purpose in the law. When the work becomes difficult, Merriweather encouraged students to return to a simple question: ā€œWhat are you here to do?ā€

The Flex Program allows students to earn a law degree through a part-time, in-person course of study designed for working professionals and place-bound students in the Charlotte region.

Flex Program Student Bar Association President Raygan Angel LFā€™28, a member of the programā€™s inaugural cohort, encouraged new students to build a supportive community rather than view classmates as competitors.

ā€œThe relationships you grow here will matter just as much as the cases youā€™re going to have to study,ā€ Angel said. ā€œSo introduce yourself, form the study group, share an outline and celebrate each otherā€™s wins instead of measuring yourself against them. The legal profession needs more lawyers who compete with integrity and lead with generosity.ā€

Vice Dean and Professor of Law Alan Woodlief opened the ceremony by recognizing the commitment required of Flex Program students, many of whom will balance full-time careers and other responsibilities with law school. He told the third cohort that faculty and staff ā€œmarvel atā€ and respect the work they have done to organize their lives around pursuing a legal education.

The ceremony concluded with an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ tradition connecting the newest law students to the universityā€™s name and history. ā€œĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€ is the Hebrew word for oak. The university has long used the growth of an acorn into an oak tree as a symbol of education, transformation and individual potential.

Woodlief presented each student with an acorn as they crossed the front of the room, where Dean and Professor of Law Zak Kramer greeted them and shook their hands. The students will receive oak saplings at Commencement.

Kramer closed the ceremony by reflecting on the significance of the third Flex Program cohort and the community that has grown around the program. He also echoed Merriweatherā€™s message about finding a calling in the law, urging students to lean into the law school experience and promising that ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law would take seriously their ambitions and dreams.

ā€œYour calling is what brought you here, and our charge, as we see it, is to make sure that you can answer that call, whatever that call is,ā€ Kramer said. ā€œThe call is up to you. We will follow it, and we will do everything we can to support you and launch you into your career.ā€

About ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time Residency-in-Practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law schoolā€™s distinctive curriculum offers a logically sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law has graduated more than 2,000 alumni since opening its doors in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 500 students and the law school is regularly featured in the top tier of preLaw Magazineā€™s ā€œBest Schools for Practical Trainingā€ rankings. In 2026, ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law received ABA approval to launch a full-time 2.5-year J.D. program on the campus of Queens University of Charlotte beginning in Fall 2027. The ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study for place-bound students at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Charlotte campus, welcomed its third cohort in Fall 2026.

One of the law school’s largest entering classes, the Class of 2028 begins its legal education this fall in ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law’s accelerated 2.5-year Juris Doctor program.

Selected from one of the strongest applicant pools in the law school’s history ā€” and a record of nearly 1,400 applications ā€” the entering class includes students from across North Carolina and the nation who have excelled in the classroom, led organizations and teams, conducted research, studied abroad, served their communities and gained professional experience in legal and non-legal fields before beginning law school. Its average LSAT score was 155, a school record.

Assistant Dean of ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Tyler Parent formally introduced the entering class during Convocation on Aug. 4, highlighting the achievements and experiences that members of the Class of 2028 bring to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law.

“You were selected based on your many prior achievements. You demonstrated passion for studying law, and your immense potential for success in law school and serving others through the legal profession shined,ā€ Parent said.

Here’s a look at what the Class of 2028 brings to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law, as well as data annually submitted to the American Bar Association:

Total Enrollment (as of Aug. 7, 2025): 177

Average Age: 23 (ranging from 19 to 38)

Gender: 57% female, 42% male, 1% another gender identity

Students of Color: 21%

Top States Represented:

The class hails from 24 states across the U.S., with 46% from North Carolina.

• North Carolina: 96
• South Carolina: 18
• Virginia: 13
• Georgia: 8
• New York: 6

Florida and Maryland count five students each, and Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut count three students each.

Higher education

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Lawā€™s Class of 2028 graduated from 83 different undergraduate institutions, including:

• North Carolina State University: 13
• Appalachian State University: 11
• University of North Carolina ā€“ Chapel Hill: 10
• ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ: 8
• University of South Carolina: 8

Other schools represented include the University of North Carolina ā€“ Charlotte, University of North Carolina ā€“ Wilmington, with seven students each; the University of North Carolina ā€“ Greensboro with six students; East Carolina University with five students; Western Carolina University with four students; and three each from Wake Forest University, Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T State University, the University of Alabama, and James Madison University. Many others are represented, including Auburn University, Clemson University, the College of Charleston, Duke University, Liberty University, Penn State, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia.

Experience, service and interests

Service is a defining characteristic of the Class of 2028. Parent noted:

• Four members of the class have served in the U.S. military, including three in the Army and one in the Marine Corps.
• At least five members are Eagle Scouts.

• Students have participated in mission trips, volunteered with organizations including Habitat for Humanity and Boys & Girls Clubs, organized charitable fundraisers and supported their communities in other ways.

Members of the Class of 2028 also arrive at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law with a wide range of professional experience in legal and non-legal fields:

• Students have worked for law firms and judges, as well as in district attorneysā€™ offices, public defendersā€™ offices, city attorneysā€™ offices and other legal organizations.
• Several worked full-time as paralegals or legal assistants, while others volunteered as guardians ad litem and child advocates or served as deputy clerks of court.
• Members of the class held legislative internships in Congress and state legislatures, worked in federal and state agencies, and participated in political campaigns.
• Outside the legal field, students have worked as teachers, sports coaches, real estate agents, nannies, face painters, banquet servers, baristas, restaurant hosts and servers, and retail employees.
• Some are entrepreneurs who started their own businesses.

Outside the classroom and workplace, the class brings an eclectic mix of athletic, artistic and media experience:

• Students have competed in varsity sports including rowing, squash, hockey, lacrosse, football, baseball and basketball, while others participated in club and intramural athletics. Several served as team captains and earned all-conference honors.
• The class includes runners, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners, rugby players and golfers.
• Students have written for college newspapers and literary magazines, worked for college radio and television stations, and served as sports reporters and news correspondents.
• The class includes musicians who play guitar, ukulele, and trombone, as well as theater actors, a professional ballerina and a member of a hip-hop dance crew.

Parent also shared one new statistic during this year’s introduction: the most common first names among members of the Class of 2028. Four students are named Benjamin or Ben, four are named Matthew ā€” and two are named Rachel Walker, who Parent joked will “have fun explaining who they are” over the next 2.5 years.

About ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time Residency-in-Practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law schoolā€™s distinctive curriculum offers a logically sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law has graduated more than 2,000 alumni since opening its doors in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 500 students and the law school is regularly featured in the top tier of preLaw Magazineā€™s ā€œBest Schools for Practical Trainingā€ rankings. In 2026, ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law received ABA approval to launch a full-time 2.5-year J.D. program on the campus of Queens University of Charlotte beginning in Fall 2027. The ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study for place-bound students at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Charlotte campus, welcomes its third cohort in Fall 2026.

“Your future will be shaped far less by the titles you earn than by the person you become while earning them,” said Taylor, delivering the annual Call to Honor in downtown Greensboro’s Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. “I hope people know you as someone they can trust. Someone who’s prepared. Someone who listens. Someone who treats everyone with dignity. Someone who uses the law not simply to make a living, but to make a difference.”

Taylor serves North Carolina’s Judicial District 8, hearing cases in Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson counties following her 2025 appointment by Governor Josh Stein. Drawing on her own path from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law graduate to assistant district attorney, private practice attorney, adjunct professor and judge, she reminded students that the most meaningful legal careers are built one opportunity ā€” and one relationship ā€” at a time.

Taylor didnā€™t imagine becoming a judge when she arrived at law school. In fact, she’d planned on a career in sports and entertainment law. But through her law school experiences, including a Residency-in-Practice with the Guilford County Public Defender’s Office and an internship at the Alamance County District Attorney’s Office, she found her calling.

She implored students to remain open to opportunities they cannot yet see, trusting that each experience will prepare them for what comes next.

Throughout her remarks, Taylor encouraged students to:

• “Walk through every door” ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law opens, knowing that the lessons you learn and the skills you develop may prepare you for tomorrow’s unexpected paths.
• Never stop learning, remaining curious, humble and open to growth throughout your legal career.
• Remember the people behind every case, approaching each client with compassion and respect as well as legal skill.

Student Bar Association President Trey Sharpe McClenny L’26 echoed Taylor’s message, reminding students that the legal profession is defined by character.

“Law school will provide you a lot of titles beyond lawyer,ā€ McClenny said. ā€œYou will become a counselor, an advocate, an officer of the court. But to many, you will simply become their lawyer on speed dial. Wear those titles with kindness and compassion. Be someone that others trust and want beside them.ā€

Provost Rebecca Kohn welcomed students to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ and introduced one of the university’s longstanding traditions. Named for the Hebrew word for “oak,” ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ presents each new student with an acorn symbolizing the beginning of their academic journey. At graduation, students receive an oak sapling representing the growth they have experienced during their time at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ and the continued growth that lies ahead.

Kohn also highlighted the close faculty mentorship and academic rigor that define the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ experience.

“ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law faculty engage with students both inside and outside the classroom,ā€ Kohn said. ā€œThey’re known for their accessibility and responsiveness to students, and they will stretch you and challenge you more than you thought possible.ā€

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law Dean Zak Kramer closed the ceremony by reflecting on a conversation with with Taylor before Convocation. Taylor told him she hadnā€™t envisioned becoming a judge until an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law mentor recognized qualities in her that she had not yet seen in herself. Building on Taylor’s message, Kramer encouraged students to embrace every opportunity at law school, reminding them that each one will shape their careers in unexpected ways.

“We don’t know yet where your career is going to take you, but I promise you that each and every one of us at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ is completely committed to helping you get there,ā€ Kramer said. ā€œWe will take your dreams seriously, we will hold them precious, and we will do everything in our power to launch you into the life that you have imagined.ā€

Ā in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she focuses on family law and immigration. In the profile, Seymour reflects on the challenges and rewards of changing careers later in life and encourages others not to let age stand in the way of pursuing meaningful work.

“The most obvious thing that anybody could ever say, but it had not occurred to me that I could actually be different or just change. It shifted for me,” Seymour told People.

Seymour has remained closely connected to ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law since graduating in 2017. , she regularly mentors students, supports experiential learning opportunities and has partnered with the law school on pro bono initiatives that expand access to legal services while providing students with valuable hands-on experience.

Last year, Seymour supervised students participating in a power of attorney clinic in partnership with FaithAction International, a project that earned the North Carolina Bar Association’s 2026 Law School Pro Bono Project of the Year Award. She wrote the letter of recommendation to the bar association that led to the students’ recognition.

to learn more about Seymour’s inspiring career journey and the lessons she hopes others will take from it.

As they helped parents prepare legal documents designed to ensure their children would continue receiving care and education if the unexpected happened, students found themselves doing something equally important: listening to families navigating uncertainty and providing greater peace of mind.

Organized by ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law’s Pro Bono Board in partnership with ā€” an agency that advocates for and serves immigrants in the Triad ā€” the May 2025 clinic responded to concerns from families who wanted to prepare for the possibility of sudden family separation. Under the supervision of licensed attorneys ā€” including an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law alumna and a faculty member ā€” students assisted parents in completing powers of attorney that would allow trusted caregivers to make educational and medical decisions for their children if needed.

“It was something concrete we could actually do,” recalled Molly Hohler L’26, who helped organize the clinic through the Pro Bono Board.

Families spoke candidly about their fears as they contemplated possible detention or deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Working alongside fellow board leaders Frank Edwards L’25, Adnan Omer L’25, Saniya Pangare L’25 and Cameron Riordan L’25, Hohler organized the clinic with FaithAction International, Professor of Law Andy Haile and attorney Abigail Seymour L’17. Together, they identified a way to use their legal training to meet a community need and serve real clients.

More than a year later, that student-led effort earned statewide recognition. during the association’s Annual Meeting this summer, recognizing an “outstanding law student group whose pro bono project advanced access to justice in North Carolina.

ā€œYou have that script of what you want to say, and then all of that goes out the window because you recognize the emotions your client is experiencing. It taught us that you have to approach clients with empathy, not just legal answers.”
ā€” Adnan Omer L’25

The idea grew from conversations with FaithAction International, which identified an urgent community need and contacted the Pro Bono Board. Immigration legal advice was beyond the scope of what students could provide, but powers of attorney offered a meaningful way to serve clients under attorney supervision.

For Adnan Omer L’25 and others, the clinic quickly became much more than a legal exercise.

“People come to you on one of the hardest days of their lives,ā€ said Omer, now an associate attorney with Vrapi Weeks Immigration Attorneys in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ā€œYou have that script of what you want to say, and then all of that goes out the window because you recognize the emotions your client is experiencing. It taught us that you have to approach clients with empathy, not just legal answers.”

Seymour L’17, who founded Greensboro-based Camino Law in 2019, was the supervising attorney for the clinic. As a former Pro Bono Board member herself, she understood the value of the experience for students. Throughout the day, she observed, interpreted and worked alongside them during client meetings in the one-day clinic.

“The main purpose of this clinic was to give people a sense of control and preparation,” Seymour said. “Peace of mind to know that if the worst were to happen, they would have a plan.” ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law students ā€œwere wonderful and jumped right in. They didn’t hang back.ā€

“The most important lesson is learning to work with clients who are facing significant challenges that we as lawyers may never experience ourselves. In class, we can debate and discuss these abstract issues of law and policy, but when you see how they affect real people, that makes it a different lesson.”
ā€” Professor of Law Andy Haile

In recommending the clinic for the statewide award, Seymour praised the students’ “extraordinary professionalism, leadership and compassion,” writing to the NCBA that they approached the work “not as an academic exercise, but as a professional responsibility.” The project exemplified “the highest ideals of pro bono service in North Carolina,ā€ she wrote.

Haile, who also supervised students during the clinic, said the experience demonstrated why experiential learning is critical for legal preparation. Some skills canā€™t be learned in a classroom.

“The most important lesson is learning to work with clients who are facing significant challenges that we as lawyers may never experience ourselves,” Haile said. “In class, we can debate and discuss these abstract issues of law and policy, but when you see how they affect real people, that makes it a different lesson.”

For Pangare, whose family immigrated to the United States, the project carried special meaning.

“It was an opportunity to help people feel more secure in their homes, their surroundings and their communities,” said Pangare ā€” now an associate attorney at Hall Booth Smith P.C. in Asheville, North Carolina. “We wanted to help a community we knew felt vulnerable and let them know we were there to support them.”

“We have unique skills as soon-to-be lawyers. The more we can use those skills to help people, the better lawyers we become in the process.”
ā€” Molly Hohler L’26

She joined Hohler and Shannon Ward Lā€™26, current Pro Bono Board co-director, in accepting the award on behalf of ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law during the NCBA Annual Meeting on June 26.

Hohler said that public service has been a throughline in both her personal and professional life. Serving on the Pro Bono Board gives her an opportunity to channel that instinct alongside classmates who share a commitment to service.

“I love working with clients. It gives me new energy,” Hohler said. “We have unique skills as soon-to-be lawyers. The more we can use those skills to help people, the better lawyers we become in the process.”

Professor of Law Enrique Armijo and Assistant Professor of Journalism Israel Balderas joined the coalition supporting the filing. organized the effort and submitted the reply comments to the FCC.

Although the proceeding involves ABC’s ā€œThe View,ā€ the filing argues the broader issue is whether the federal government should determine what qualifies as a news interview program and second-guess broadcasters’ editorial decisions ā€” a form of government interference with the independence of news organizations that the signers of the filing say the First Amendment is intended to prevent.

The proceeding stems from a public notice issued by the FCC’s Media Bureau, the office responsible for broadcast policy and licensing, seeking comment on ABC’s request that ā€œThe Viewā€ retain its status as a bona fide news interview program. Under the federal equal time provision, broadcast stations generally must provide comparable airtime to opposing political candidates when one candidate appears on a program. News interview programs that qualify for the FCC’s longstanding exemption donā€™t have to adhere to that requirement.

Balderas ā€” a professor in the School of Communications whose professional experience includes work as an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, First Amendment attorney and former media adviser at the FCC ā€” said the coalition’s concerns extend beyond a single television program.

“The Constitution puts that decision off-limits to government. Once any administration, of any party, gets the power to decide what qualifies as news, it will use that power against whoever criticizes it,ā€ Balderas said. ā€œThe First Amendment doesn’t protect the press because journalists are perfect. It protects the press because a free people need information their government doesn’t control.ā€

Armijo ā€” a professor in the School of Law whose scholarship examines the intersection of new technologies, free speech and First Amendment doctrine ā€” said the filing addresses both the immediate FCC proceeding and broader concerns about government regulation of speech.

“While the TechFreedom comments are about the current proceeding at the FCC as to whether ā€œThe Viewā€ and similar programs should continue to be exempted from the agency’s equal time requirements, they also speak to something larger: the current administration’s continuing attempts to use its regulatory authority as a pretext to punish points of view with which it disagrees,” Armijo said.

The reply comments become part of the public record the FCC will consider as it reviews ABC’s petition.

At ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law, Armijo teaches constitutional law, the First Amendment, media and internet law, torts and international freedom of expression.

In the School of Communications, Balderas teaches courses in media law and ethics, TV reporting and leads programs that bridge political communication with civic engagement.

The multimedia article explores how descendants across the country reflect on America’s past, present and future 250 years since the United States of America’s founding. Flechsig was interviewed and photographed for the project at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law’s downtown Greensboro campus.

Flechsig is the 10th great-granddaughter of Declaration signer John Morton. A native of Whispering Pines, North Carolina, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ.

Although her family’s connection to Morton was never a major focus growing up, Flechsig said participating in the CNN project prompted her to reflect more deeply on her family’s place in American history and her own aspirations for the future.

“I find it incredibly meaningful that I am able to have the opportunities I do with this part of our country’s history attached to me,” Flechsig said. “I know that my ancestor believed that things could be different and better, so he did the ‘dangerous’ thing of signing the Declaration and severing our ties with Britain. I know that our country can be different and better, so I am prepared to do what I can to accomplish that.”

CNN’s profile explores Flechsig’s thoughtful and sometimes conflicted relationship with America’s founding. She recognizes the enduring ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence while also acknowledging the inequalities that existed and persisted since the nation’s founding, perspectives that have shaped her interest in law, immigration and public service.

Now considering a career in immigration law, Flechsig hopes to use her legal education to advocate for others and strengthen the communities she serves. As she told CNN, “I always want to have a job that is making the space around me better … helping where I feel like I can, and using my voice to speak for the people who can’t speak right now.”

Before enrolling at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law, and after graduating from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ, Flechsig taught for more than two years at Henderson Collegiate, a public charter school in Henderson, North Carolina. As an undergraduate, Flechsig was an Honors Fellow. Her thesis advisor and research mentor, Associate Professor of English Kevin Bourque, wrote a letter of recommendation for a scholarship through the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (DSDI) and connected CNN reporters with her.

This summer, Flechsig is engaged in global study at The Hague, Netherlands, through ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law’s partnership with Stetson University College of Law.

In the The article examines how federal housing policies contributed to racial disparities in homeownership and wealth accumulation and argues that Housing Choice Vouchers should be viewed not only as rental assistance, but also as a vehicle for sustainable homeownership. Drawing on historical analysis of federal housing programs and lending practices, Newman argues that government housing policies have played a significant role in shaping economic opportunity and wealth-building across generations. Newman proposes reforms that would enable more recipients of federal housing subsidies to leverage that assistance as a pathway to homeownership, helping expand access to intergenerational wealth-building opportunities.

Newman also published a In the essay, Newman examines University of Richmond School of Law Professor Carol Brownā€™s article ā€œA Civil Rights Defense of Gentrification,ā€ that challenges the conventional assumption that neighborhood reinvestment and gentrification inevitably displace existing residents. Newman highlights Brown’s argument that legal tools such as inclusionary zoning and affordability protections can allow redevelopment to occur in a way that promotes both opportunity and inclusion, and without widespread displacement.

Together, the two publications reflect Newmanā€™s broader research agenda, which examines how property law and housing policy shape wealth creation, neighborhood development, and racial inequality, with a particular focus on the legal institutions that govern access to homeownership and economic mobility.

Newman joined the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Law faculty in 2022 and teaches Property, Wills and Trusts, and Real Estate Transactions. Her teaching and scholarship focus on property, real estate and housing law, with particular interests in housing and economic development. She earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago and a dual J.D./M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa.

Before entering academia, Newman worked in the commercial real estate development field for firms in Miami, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina, specializing in structuring multilayered financing for mixed-income, multifamily housing developments. That professional experience continues to inform her research and teaching. She later served as a Louis Westerfield Fellow at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

Newman chairs the Legal Education Committee of the Uniform Laws Group of the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section (RPTE), serves as a contributing editor for JOTWELL’s Property section, and is a member of the Trusts Drafting Committee of the North Carolina General Statutes Commission. She also serves on the Executive Council for the Florida Barā€™s Out-of-State Division and as a member of the Mecklenburg County Citizens Revaluation Commission.