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Harvard, Grad Students End Title IX Harassment, Retaliation Suit

By Ufonobong Umanah

Three Harvard graduate students who alleged they were sexually harassed by well-known anthropology Professor John Comaroff are dismissing their lawsuit with prejudice, according to a stipulation filed in federal court.

The students—Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn, and Amulya Mandava—said that they were victim to unwanted sexual advances, groping, and retaliation from Comaroff, according to their complaint filed in the the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. They said Harvard knew about Comaroff’s alleged behavior before he was hired, and took no action until the university’s undergraduate student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, wrote a report about abuse in the Anthropology ...

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SUU Graduate Attends Yale Law School

Published: August 14, 2024 | Author: Kierstin Holloway | Read Time: 3 minutes

A Cedar City native, Zufelt originally chose SUU due to its proximity to his friends and family, but he stayed for different reasons. “SUU kept me around by being a place where I felt like my input mattered,” said Zufelt. “The small class sizes, extraordinary faculty, and bounteous opportunities for getting involved allowed me to tailor my college experience very finely to my specific interests.”

After graduating from SUU, Zufelt began his career in research working for a lab at the University of Chicago and doing public health research on the south side of Chicago. His original plan was to continue this career by applying to PhD programs; however, while he knew the research work was important, Zufelt found himself feeling frustrated and sidelined.

“As a researcher, I am in an observational role and the amount I can do for the people I meet is very limited. I am drawn to the practice of law by the opportunity to intervene rather than just to observe,” said Zufelt. “I hope that legal training will empower me to advocate more effectively for the people I work with.”

Zufelt had several experiences at SUU that helped to prepare him for law school. Most notable among them was his time working with the Health Education Action Lab (HEAL) and the SUU Student Association (SUUSA).

Run by Dr. Joshua Price , and others in the economics department, HEAL is designed to give students of any major the chance to participate in empirical research.

“These professors started investing in my professional interests during my freshman year of college and helped me to develop serious research skills,” said Zufelt. “I think this kind of early investment in students is probably a rare thing at other schools.”

During his senior year at SUU, Zufelt had the opportunity to serve as a vice president of the Southern Utah University Student Association (SUUSA). Through this experience, Zufelt learned that, for him, public service would be an essential part of a fulfilling career.

“SUUSA allowed me to give back to the community that had given me so much. I was able to serve dozens of other students by running events, building clubs, and funding on-campus resources,” said Zufelt.

While Zufelt has yet to decide what specific type of law he wants to practice, he has a strong desire to return to Utah and be involved in the community as a public servant and advocate.

“So much of everything I have accomplished in life thus far I owe to the countless friends, mentors, and family who have lifted me to it,” said Zufelt. “I'm not sure I'd be where I am today were it not for the community I got to be a part of at SUU.”

Offering more than 150 undergraduate, 32 graduate, and certificate programs, as well as a professional doctorate degree, SUU strives to provide personalized education to every student. The supportive educational community at SUU offers T-Birds the opportunities they need to soar in their future careers. Learn more about what SUU alumni are accomplishing .

Tags: CurStu Alumni SUUSA Academic

Contact Information:

Brooke Heath 4355865400 [email protected]

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Another Air Law PhD at UCT Law

The aviation field generally attracts more investors than  African scholars, particularly scholars of the Law. While few have sought to pursue this field of Law, even fewer have taken the tough decision to embark on a doctoral thesis. William Kiema not only did this, he has now completed his PhD in Air Law at UCT - and will be graduating on 3 September 2024. 

William Kiema is a 30-year old Kenyan who will be only the second PhD graduate to come out of the Faculty's newly-established Air and Aviation Law Programme . The programme is led by Distinguished Professor Philippe-Joseph Salazar, who also supervised William's doctoral research and his thesis titled Open Skies for Africa: A Principled Approach to the Implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market.  

William achieved his Bachelor of Laws at the University of Nairobi (Kenya) in 2018, and then completed his Master's in Law at UCT as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar  (a merit-based scholarship granted to promising African students). William’s passion for and commitment to the creation of a stable and properly regulated African airspace alerted him to the gaps in the African Civil Aviation industry and so, as a legal scholar, he sought to understand better the Aviation industry from a legal perspective. This brought him back to UCT Law, and in January 2021 he was admitted to the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Law to pursue his PhD.

William's interest in aviation stems from his childhood, and he remembers that growing up in his home town in Kenya, he would see planes fly overhead as he stood in awe and wonder at " the kind of magic that kept the big birds from falling off the sky ". Like any other child with a vibrant and curious mind, though, William’s professional preferences swung between being a medical doctor, a lawyer, a pilot and an engineer. “ Well," says Kiema, " I became a doctor - not a medical doctor but a Doctor of Philosophy in Law, guiding pilots and other aviators in the legal intricacies in what is arguably one of the most regulated industries in the world ."

Armed with the desire to undertake research and also to share his knowledge of Air Law, William has pioneered UCT Law's new professional short course on Fundamentals of Aviation Law,  which has attracted aviation law practitioners, non-lawyers, and senior executives and managers from the aviation industry (including civil aviation authorities, airports, air navigation service providers, airlines, international and regional aviation bodies, government officials responsible for civil aviation and the general consumers of aviation services). Chief among the objectives of this short professional development course, offered by the Faculty's Law@work  unit, is to provide an overview of air service agreements, open skies agreements, traffic rights, the legal and institutional framework of international aviation, and the roles and functions of principal organisations involved in the regulation of the aviation industry. The course also aims to equip participants with a contextualised operational perspective of Aviation Law.

* information about this short course on Fundamentals of Aviation Law can be found on the Law@work  website.

In addition to pursuing his PhD and sharing knowledge about Aviation Law, William has consulted for leading law firms in Kenya on aviation law-related matters and has trained civil aviation representatives from Kenya and Nigeria on aviation and air law. William is also a Partner at PMAK Africa Law, a boutique law firm in Nairobi, Kenya, and heads up the PMAK Aviation Law Department. 

N.J. is adding a new requirement to graduate high school, but a huge number of kids didn’t do it last year

• Updated: Aug. 15, 2024, 7:37 a.m.
• | Published: Aug. 14, 2024, 7:29 a.m.
• Tina Kelley | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The number of New Jersey students who filed federal financial aid forms dropped this year, just as the state is implementing a new law that will require public high school seniors to fill out the forms in order to graduate.

The law, signed in January, requires the classes of 2025, 2026 and 2027 to fill out the federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA , as a requirement for getting a public high school diploma.

The form is used to determine how much federal student aid a graduate can get to attend college, and New Jersey officials want more seniors to fill it out to save money and increase the number of people getting a higher education.

But, only a little more than half of New Jersey high school seniors filled out their FAFSA forms this year.

After federal delays in producing and processing a new version of the FAFSA form caused chaos in college admissions this spring, 54.7% of New Jersey high school seniors finished the form — down 6 percentage points from last year, according to the National College Attainment Network, citing August 2 figures.

That meant 6,204 fewer New Jersey students filled out the form compared to the previous year.

The U.S. Department of Education announced last week that for most students, the forms will again be available three months later than usual.

Kim Cook, head of the nonprofit National College Attainment Network, said students would be further harmed if the problems with the forms continue this academic year.

“The unprecedented numbers we are observing in this class’s data make it clear that we can’t afford to have another delayed FAFSA,” she said. “We know that FAFSA opens the door to college; we need that door ready to walk through on-time and without complication.”

According to the network, students who did not fill out the form left about $103 million in federal Pell Grants on the table.

That number is expected to shrink significantly in New Jersey with the new graduation requirement, as schools are expected to focus on getting all students to fill out the FAFSA.

Under the pilot program, which can be renewed after three years, students can submit a waiver or speak to a school counselor to get an exemption from the graduation requirement. Undocumented students who are not eligible for federal aid but do qualify as NJ Dreamers can fill out the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application instead.

Nationally, the percentage of students finishing the forms fell to 46% from about 53% this year. For the past two years New Jersey has ranked ninth in the nation in the percentage of seniors completing the forms, said Bill DeBaun, a senior director at the National College Attainment Network.

Filling out the forms is particularly important for low-income and first generation college students with fewer resources.

“When we look at New Jersey high schools by school income level and percentage of students of color enrolled, we do see big FAFSA completion gaps,” DeBaun said.

There’s still time before the Sept. 15 deadline for this year’s high school graduates to apply for state funds for college, state officials said. New Jersey received $100,000 in federal assistance to get the word out about the FAFSA.

The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority is offering free, online one-on-one sessions with financial aid experts throughout August to answer students’ questions. Appointments are available through the authority’s website, and are also open to students who already submitted their FAFSA forms but need assistance correcting errors or providing additional information requested by the U.S. Department of Education.

Evening webinars about the forms are also available in Spanish and English.

Students must fill out the forms to see if they are eligible for federal aid as well as Tuition Aid Grants from the state. The forms are also required to see if students are eligible for the New Jersey College Promise program, which provides tuition money for students under certain income levels. Most universities and colleges require the forms to determine who receives scholarships, as well.

Under the traditional timeline, the FAFSA forms are available Oct. 1, and students and families fill them out and send them to the U.S. Department of Education, which determines how much federal aid they should receive, said Alejandro Guiral, president of the New Jersey Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

After three to five days of processing, the department usually determines what amount of federal assistance applicants will receive, and sends the forms to the state Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, known as HESAA, and the students’ chosen schools.

HESAA then determines how much state aid the student is eligible for, and notifies the school, which decides which scholarships or grants it can offer the student.

The final package — with state, federal and campus aid — was traditionally ready for students to review by January. This year, the form was not available until January for most families, and students learned what federal aid they received in mid-March. The amount of state aid they were eligible to receive wasn’t available until the beginning of May.

“They had a long time to wait,” Guiral said. “There’s been a certain percentage maybe that didn’t choose the school they wanted, maybe they went to another college that was not their first or second choice, because of the delay in accurate information about the financial aid package.”

On the new FAFSA form used this year, information from parents’ 2022 tax returns was fed into their children’s applications, although the process was poorly executed, according to a report by the U.S. Inspector General last week.

When parents do not want their income considered in a student’s application, it severely limits how much need-based aid the student would be eligible for, Guiral said. Students in such circumstances may be able to apply independently from their parents, after discussing the matter with financial aid officers.

The wait this year was far longer for students with a parent who did not have a social security number, he said. Their forms were not even ready until mid-March, shutting them out of campus-based aid that was distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.

“Keep trying,” Guiral said to students still hoping to get financial aid for the fall college semester. “The actual application really has become much more simple.” And some colleges will admit students well past the official deadlines.

Guiral’s group is advocating for the department to roll out next year’s application correctly. They are also training administrators for the 2025-2026 school year and are encouraging seniors and their families to set up their accounts with the U.S. Department of Education, so they are ready when the forms become available.

Stories by Tina Kelley

• N.J. university building $2M apartment for president — in a dorm
• N.J. school district abandons cuts to free courtesy busing after uproar
• Bruce Springsteen stops at Jersey Shore hot dog spot to grab 60 ‘to go’

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this post.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com .

Tina Kelley may be reached at [email protected] .

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Student Spotlights

A new year, and new harvard law graduate students.

As orientation begins, Harvard Law School welcomes the LL.M. Class of 2025, international exchange students, and new S.J.D. candidates

On Wednesday, August 14, Harvard Law School’s Graduate Program officially welcomed the LL.M. Class of 2025 to campus: 189 new students from 62 countries who will spend the upcoming academic year pursuing a Master of Laws degree.

The law school’s LL.M. program attracts students from a variety of legal systems, with many different interests and career plans. As is typical, 97.5% of this year’s class are international students, from countries and jurisdictions ranging from Afghanistan to Venezuela. The majority of them have pursued advanced studies or have two or more years of professional or teaching experience. The cohort includes full and part-time law teachers, judges, prosecutors, journalists, government officials and diplomats, and three active-duty U.S. JAG officers (Coast Guard and Navy), as well as 14 Fulbright scholars and 17 Supreme or Constitutional Court Clerks, for courts in eight countries.

Outside of the law, the LL.M. students’ pursuits are just as wide-ranging. The Class of 2025 includes internationally and nationally ranked athletes, as well as many enthusiastic amateurs; dancers, musicians, artists and performers; a volunteer paramedic and a former wildfire detection pilot; an accomplished juggler and a competitive Scrabble player; as well avid readers and travelers.

In addition, nine candidates are beginning their studies for the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree, the law school’s most advanced degree. These students — including a human rights activist, a Supreme Court Clerk, a teaching fellow, a former law firm associate and post-doctoral fellow and three Fulbright Scholars — join 39 continuing S.J.D. candidates; together, they represent 26 countries and jurisdictions.

Harvard Law School is also welcoming ten international exchange students, from its partner schools in Australia, China, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. These students will spend the fall semester or the academic year here, pursuing J.D.-level studies or doctoral-level research.

The students’ first week on campus includes a welcome breakfast and introductory remarks by Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 , Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies; Catherine Peshkin, Assistant Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies ; senior Graduate Program administrators; and representatives from the law school’s student services offices, as well as a welcome reception for the students and their families. During orientation, which continues through August 30, they will also attend their first Harvard Law School lecture — a talk by Professor Michael Klarman on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education — and undertake a special one-credit course on U.S. legal research, writing and analysis.

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• UB law professor endorses Biden’s Supreme Court reforms

UB law professor endorses Biden’s Supreme Court reforms

By CHARLES ANZALONE

Published August 15, 2024

A School of Law expert on constitutional law and the Supreme Court says President Biden’s proposed court reforms could prevent a drift toward an authoritarian executive, protect separation of powers and restore judicial accountability.

Biden’s recently proposed reforms include a constitutional amendment stating that the Constitution does not confer immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed by the president; 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices; and a binding code of conduct for those justices.

The “challenge,” says Manoj Mate, professor in the School of Law, is the difficulty of amending the Constitution.

“The proposals to reform the Supreme Court are a response to recent decisions in which the court has overturned settled precedent protecting fundamental rights, including civil rights, voting rights and the right to abortion” says Mate, an expert in the areas of constitutional law, election law, and public law and judicial politics in U.S. and comparative contexts. 

“And more recently, the court in Trump v. United States held that the president has broad immunity from prosecution for criminal acts committed while president.”

Trump v. United States has been heavily criticized by scholars and commentators across the political spectrum for “failing to properly analyze the text, history and structure of the constitution,” according to Mate.

Collectively, these decisions and related developments have caused many observers and commentators to “sound the alarm that the court has entered a new phase of judicial aggrandizement.”

“In addition, the Biden reform plan also responds to recent examples of ethics scandals involving unreported gifts to certain justices,” he says.

Biden’s proposed code of conduct would require justices to “disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.”

The stakes are exceedingly high, says Mate. The recent decision in Trump v. United States poses “an existential threat to U.S. democracy and separation of powers by creating a pathway to an authoritarian presidency that is above the law,” he says.

“These recent Supreme Court decisions have profound consequences for fundamental rights, separation of powers and the accountability of the executive branch. In addition, these developments raise serious concerns about an unaccountable imperial Supreme Court.

“These are sensible and common-sense reforms that would restore equilibrium to our system of separation of powers and the rule of law,” Mate says.

In discussing the reform plan, Mate highlights critiques and challenges facing the plan.

First, although some have suggested the plan represents a threat to judicial independence, the reforms do not amount to more far-reaching proposals that would have immediate impacts on the composition of the court or its powers, according to Mate.

“Biden’s plan is not a court-packing plan like the plan advanced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to court decisions that invalidated key New Deal policies,” Mate says.

“Rather, the plan seeks to address and respond to recent court decisions and political developments that present existential threats to precedent and the rule of law, core fundamental rights and our system of separation of powers. In addition, the plan does not seek to restrict or curb the power or jurisdiction of the court in line with recent proposals.”

Inherent obstacles

Second, Mate notes some of the challenges facing enactment and implementation of the plan.   

“The proposed binding code of conduct is a welcome step and would go a long way toward addressing conflicts of interest and perceived corruption by applying the same code that is binding on lower federal court judges to Supreme Court judges,” says Mate.

However, the other two proposals will be more difficult to enact, given they would likely require amending the Constitution.   

“It would require the enactment of constitutional amendments that would be very difficult to enact, given the high procedural hurdles for amendment, which requires a two-third vote in the House and Senate, and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

“While court packing proposals have been frowned on by some as an attack on judicial independence, a proposal to expand the court may be the only way to immediately address the threats posed by the court’s recent decision in Trump v. United States,” Mate says.

Mate recently joined UB Law from DePaul University College of Law, where he was the inaugural faculty director of the DePaul Racial Justice Initiative. He has also held visiting faculty or fellowship appointments at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and the University of California, Irvine School of Law.