Students Attend 2008 Democratic National Convention

 

Press Contact: Erin St. John Kelly

[email protected]
212.854.1787/cell 646.284.8549/Public Affairs Office: 212.854.2650

August 28, 2008 (NEW YORK) – When Columbia Law School opens for its first official day of classes on September 2, four of its students will be fresh from witnessing a landmark moment in American history. Laura Gleen ’09, Jen Philbrick ’09, LaRue Robinson ’09 and Alicia Washington ’09 are at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, and will be there tonight when Senator Barack Obama is scheduled to accept the nomination for president.

 
“I am incredibly excited to be a part of this historic convention. Getting the opportunity to see Barack Obama accept the nomination first-hand is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Robinson wrote in an email. It is his first convention. He is a board member of the National Democratic Law Students Council and is blogging live from the convention and participating in panels on youth voting issues during the week. 

Robinson hopes to clerk after he graduates in the spring, and intends to enter the Army JAG Corp. He plans “to possibly get into politics in the future,” he emailed. His blog post of August 26 queries: “Would one be a better public official if he or she actually worked in the ‘real world’ prior to elected office or does it not even matter?”

Gleen went to Denver and spent the first two days volunteering at special events. With the assistance of an attorney she had worked with this summer who was involved in the convention, she was able to secure credentials to attend on Wednesday.  

Gleen returns to Washington, D.C., tomorrow morning, where she will spend this semester organizing poll monitors for IMPACT, a strictly non-partisan group. “I’m really just here for my own personal experience,” she said from Denver this morning.

“It’s just amazing to be here during this historic time,” she added. “I’ve met famous people, politicians, and, most excitingly, lots of like-minded people who are here because we all believe in the same things.”

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law.