Members of the ľĂľĂČČ School of Law Advisory Board gathered in Greensboro this week for their regular fall meeting, providing strategic guidance and professional insights to university and law school administrators while devoting significant time to students through panel discussions and small-group mentoring conversations shared over meals.

The 21-member board includes prominent attorneys, judges and business leaders from across the country who advise Elon Law and ľĂľĂČČ leaders on the law school’s development and strategic direction.

A Wednesday, Sept. 16, panel featured Jennifer Bowden L’09, principal at R. Steve Bowden & Associates; Marla Crawford, general counsel at Cimplifi; and Gerald Walden G’14, general counsel at The Fresh Market. Student Bar Association President Trey McClenny L’26 moderated.

Their conversation offered students practical advice drawn from careers spanning private practice, corporate law, litigation and emerging legal technology. Among their key takeaways:

Treat law school like your first professional job.

Bowden encouraged students to take advantage of access to professors and seek their guidance rather than trying to navigate difficult material alone. Walden similarly urged students to make law school a priority and to be intentional about learning from classmates who excel in different legal areas, as well as faculty.

Stay open to where a legal career can lead.

All three panelists described careers that evolved in directions they hadn’t necessarily anticipated in law school. Crawford encouraged students not to arrive with a fixed idea of where they must end up. Opportunities others overlook, she said, can sometimes become defining moments in a career. For her, that arose through first managing discovery, which became her specialty and led to managing the nation’s first electronic discovery case in the complex Enron case that began in 2001. She then leveraged that skill to become an expert in technology and the law, and is now focused on AI.

Get legal experience (even if it isn’t your dream job).

The panelists emphasized internships, summer work and other law-related opportunities as ways to test practice areas and workplace environments. ľĂľĂČČ can learn as much from discovering what they don’t enjoy as from finding an immediate fit.

Build relationships deliberately.

Walden reminded students that their professional networks already include the classmates sitting beside them. When meeting practicing attorneys, he advised students to follow up, reference the conversation and give the attorney something memorable to know about their own interests and goals.

Referencing a specific conversation and expressing interest in continuing it can help turn a brief introduction into a meaningful professional connection, he said.

The panel was only one part of the board’s interaction with students. Members joined students for a community dinner in the Elon Law Library on Wednesday, Sept. 16, creating opportunities for informal conversations about careers, law school and professional life.

Those connections continued Thursday, Sept. 17, when board members met with students in smaller mentoring conversations over lunch.

The interactions reflect Elon Law’s emphasis on connecting students with practicing attorneys, judges and other leaders throughout their legal education, as well as the Advisory Board’s dedication to providing top-notch law school experience to law students as they develop professional networks and clearer understanding of opportunities available.

Last year, Kramer challenged the Class of 2025 to achieve an overall first-time bar passage rate of 83%, a mark that would have been the highest in Elon Law history.

The class’s Student Bar Association president had a counterproposal: What if they reached 85%? Would the dean get a tattoo?

Kramer said yes.

The Class of 2025 responded with a 90.9% overall first-time bar passage rate across North Carolina and 11 other states.

On Sept. 4, Kramer responded by rolling up his sleeve.

At Frozen Pines Tattoo in Gibsonville, North Carolina, shop co-founder and tattoo artist Annie Bella inked “One and Done” on the dean’s arm, a reference to Elon Law’s slogan around bar preparation and passing the bar examination on the first try.

Law School Dean Zak Kramer kept his promise to the Class of 2025, emblazoning the "One and Done" slogan permanently on his left arm Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

Dean Zak Kramer's expressive face was on full display as he got his "One and Done" tattoo Friday, Sept. 4, at Frozen Pines Tattoo in Gibsonville.

Dean Zak Kramer laughs as Annie Bella of Frozen Pines Tattoo in Gibsonville completes the mark on his left arm.

Artist Annie Bella of Frozen Pines Tattoo in Gibsonville completes detail work on Dean Zak Kramer's tattoo.

Dean Zak Kramer grimaces as tattoo artist Annie Bella of Frozen Pines Tattoo in Gibsonville begins work.

Law School dean Zak Kramer sits for a “1 and done” tattoo on September 04, 2026.

Law School Dean Zak Kramer admires the “One and Done” tattoo on his arm Sept. 04, 2026, at Frozen Pine Tattoo in Gibsonville.

Law School Dean Zak Kramer admires the “One and Done” tattoo on his arm Sept. 04, 2026, at Frozen Pine Tattoo in Gibsonville.

Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer kept his promise to the Class of 2025, emblazoning the "One and Done" slogan permanently on his left arm Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

The tattoo celebrates a significant achievement for the Class of 2025 and Elon Law. In addition to the 90.9% overall first-time passage rate nationwide, class members taking spring exams also achieved a 91.96% first-time passage rate on the North Carolina Bar Examination.

Elon Law’s accelerated 2.5-year J.D. program allows students to graduate in December and take the bar in February, months ahead of the traditional three-year law school timeline.

Kramer isn’t letting the Class of 2026 rest on its predecessors’ success. He’s challenged this December’s graduating class to raise the bar again when they sit for the exam in February.

What kinds of promises will he make them? That remains to be seen.

So, how did this one go?

“Ow,” Kramer said just afterward, “but I’m happy to do it. Proud of the students.”

“A deal’s a deal.”

New members were selected based on their academic standing, quality of legal writing, and strong performances in the school’s oral advocacy competition and auditions.

Moot Court Board

Thirty-eight members of the Class of 2027 have been named to the Moot Court Board:

• Brianna Arnovits L’27
• Aislynn Bell L’27
• Gabrielle Brown L’27
• Vivian Camplin L’27
• Megan Chen L’27
• Will Courts L’27
• Kali Crooks L’27
• Madison Curtis L’27
• Samantha Davis L’27
• Frank Deronja L’27
• Aarya Deshmukh L’27
• Madison Emsermann L’27
• Paulina Escobar L’27
• Skylar Flechsig L’27
• Kayleigh Foster L’27
• Jacqueline Gardner L’27
• Abigail Halloway L’27
• Zaria Hanchell L’27
• Kyla King L’27
• Arden Latham L’27
• Anthony Logrono L’27
• Nicole Malagon L’27
• Michael Maroney L’27
• Kassidy Neuner L’27
• Addison Noe L’27
• Grant Paramore L’27
• Carson Patterson L’27
• Bryanna Rediger L’27
• Clare Rudolph L’27
• Queen Salaam L’27
• Alex Sarmiento L’27
• Lily Selznick L’27
• McKenzie Swedin L’27
• Baron Turner L’27
• Avery Vidt L’27
• Rachel Wilson L’27
• Adelaide Zahren L’27
• Libby Zapor L’27

Board members were selected based on a combination of their performance in the spring 2026 Intramural Moot Court Competition, their appellate brief writing in Legal Method and Communication, and their overall academic record.

Members of the Moot Court Board represent Elon Law in external appellate advocacy competitions and help organize the law school’s internal and national moot court competitions.

“These new board members have demonstrated that they can analyze difficult legal questions, craft persuasive arguments and advocate effectively before a panel of judges,” said Vice Dean and Professor of Law Alan Woodlief, director of Elon Law’s Moot Court Program. “We look forward to seeing them represent Elon Law in competitions across the country and work alongside our Class of 2026 board members to host this fall’s 17th Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition.”

The new members will also help organize Elon Law’s spring 2027 Intramural Moot Court Competition and the fall 2027 Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition.

Mock Trial Team

Following auditions last spring, eight members of the Class of 2027 were also selected for Elon Law’s 2026–2027 Mock Trial Team:

• Aislynn Bell L’27
• Gabrielle Brown L’27
• Sam Grant L’27
• Kyla King L’27
• Arden Latham L’27
• Grant Paramore L’27
• Avery Vidt L’27
• Rachel Wilson L’27

The Mock Trial Team gives students opportunities to develop courtroom advocacy skills and represent Elon Law in trial competitions.

“These students put in the work and brought their A-game to earn their places on the team,” said Adjunct Professor of Law Bob Minarcin, who coordinates Elon Law’s Mock Trial program. “Here’s to a fantastic season and an even better team.”

Assistant Professor of Law Robert Craig, Assistant Dean of Experiential Education Bryant Park, Assistant Professor of Law Susan Ross and Assistant Professor of Law Heather Scavone join the law school with professional backgrounds spanning federal courts, civil rights advocacy, corporate legal practice, career and experiential education and federal immigration policy. Their experiences will shape courses and programs that prepare students for both the intellectual demands and practical realities of the legal profession.

Craig, Park and Ross are based in Greensboro, while Scavone returns to the School of Law as a member of the faculty in Charlotte.

Here’s a bit more about each of them as Elon Law prepares to begin the Fall trimester next week.

Robert Craig, Assistant Professor of Law

Robert Craig brings to Elon Law a career spanning the K-12 classroom, federal courts and constitutional civil rights advocacy.

A Tucson, Arizona, native, Craig studied philosophy and political science at the University of Arizona before joining Teach For America and ľĂľĂČČ fifth grade in Phoenix. He earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Arizona State University and later a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Craig clerked for Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge James A. Soto of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. He then spent seven years in nonprofit legal practice focused on plaintiffs-side federal constitutional and civil rights issues, including due process, private prisons and the delegation of government authority.

At Elon, Craig will teach Constitutional Law I & II and First Amendment. He was drawn to the law school’s emphasis on innovative and experiential ľĂľĂČČ â€” something he has considered throughout a career that began in an elementary school classroom.

Craig enjoys seeing students grasp new ideas, but ľĂľĂČČ also allows him to encounter familiar cases and concepts through students’ perspectives. Each semester offers a chance to learn something new and refine his approach.

“There’s a built-in natural way to get better,” he said.

Craig and his wife, Erin Duncan-O’Neill, have two children, Connor and Wren. Outside the classroom, he enjoys golf, soccer, games, and science-fiction and fantasy novels.

Bryant Park, Assistant Dean of Experiential Education

Bryant Park joined Elon Law to lead the continued refinement and growth of its signature Residency-in-Practice Program in Greensboro and Charlotte.

The program places every full-time student in an immersive legal setting during their second year, where they work alongside attorneys and judges while developing the practical skills, professional judgment and confidence needed to enter the profession. Park was drawn to a model that ensures every full-time student receives that experience.

“Law school does a great job of helping you think like a lawyer, but not necessarily all the nitty-gritty of how to be a lawyer,” Park said. At Elon Law, the required Residency bridges that gap for every student through experience working with clients and colleagues and learning the everyday mechanics of legal practice.

Park brings experience in legal practice, career development and experiential education. He began his career practicing family and elder law in Wisconsin and most recently served as senior associate director of career and professional development at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law.

A first-generation law student and lawyer, Park earned his bachelor’s degree in English creative writing from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and his J.D. from Marquette University Law School. The Wisconsin native enjoys puzzles, LEGO and figuring out how things work. He recently built his first computer — and discovered he enjoyed building it as much as using it.

Susan Ross, Assistant Professor of Law

After two years as a visiting professor, Susan Ross joins Elon Law’s full-time Legal Method & Communication faculty with decades of experience spanning engineering and corporate law.

Ross spent much of her legal career as an in-house attorney, including nearly a decade with Vontier and Gilbarco Veeder-Root and seven years with a Triangle-based technology company later acquired by Oracle. Her work encompassed contracts and negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, employment law, litigation management, environmental matters and corporate management, including service as chief legal officer for the Americas.

Raised in Arizona, Ross studied engineering at Duke University before working as an engineer and earning her J.D. from Arizona State University. She has taught throughout her career, from tutoring and serving as a ľĂľĂČČ assistant to leading continuing legal education programs.

At Elon, Ross teaches Legal Method & Communication courses and is developing a course on artificial intelligence and the practice of law. Having seen the internet transform legal practice early in her career, she views AI as the profession’s next technological shift.

“We’re not going to get rid of AI,” Ross said. “We need to lean into it and find a way to teach students to use it responsibly.”

Ross, a longtime Greensboro resident, has an adult son and two dogs. And students can expect each class to begin with one of her favorite ľĂľĂČČ tools: a dad joke.

Heather Scavone, Assistant Professor of Law

Heather Scavone returns to Elon Law with deep roots at the law school and years of experience shaping federal immigration policy.

Scavone first joined Elon in 2010 after directing a Greensboro legal services program for refugees. Working with founding faculty member Helen Grant, she helped establish Elon Law’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, creating an opportunity for students to serve clients while putting their legal education into practice.

She left Elon in 2018 to join U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she served as associate counsel in the Refugee Asylum Law Division of the Office of the Chief Counsel. During her federal service, she served as a legal and policy advisor to USCIS and DHS leadership on matters involving humanitarian protection, administrative law, national security, and federal immigration policy. Her work included advising on complex regulatory and statutory issues, supporting the Department of Justice in class action litigation, drafting certiorari recommendations to the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General, and briefing members of Congress and senior executive branch officials on areas of subject-matter expertise.

Now an assistant professor at Elon Law in Charlotte, Scavone will teach Constitutional Law and Professional Responsibility. Her executive branch experience provides a particularly timely foundation for exploring constitutional law and separation of powers with students.

For Scavone, ľĂľĂČČ offers another way to expand the impact of her legal career. ľĂľĂČČ who have transformative experiences in law school, she said, become “the ripples that just keep going out” as they serve clients and communities.

Scavone earned a bachelor’s degree in French from Guilford College and her J.D., cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Outside of the classroom, Scavone enjoys baking, playing traditional Irish music with her father, and going on international adventures with her husband and children.

“A Changing Landscape: Immigration Law in the 21st Century” will bring attorneys and scholars to ľĂľĂČČ School of Law in downtown Greensboro on Friday, Sept. 25, to examine the complexities of the nation’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. – 4 p.m.

ľĂľĂČČ 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

“The Complexities of Immigration Policy”

, founder of New Frontier Immigration Law and TEDx speaker

Panel Discussions

Seeking Asylum – Hands-On Immigration Law

• Dara Arroyo-Longoria L’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 Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer; Chief Symposium Editor Rose Peterson L’26; Co-Symposium Editors Abigail MacKnight L’26 and Lauren Collins L’26; and Elon Law Review Editor-in-Chief Rachel Claffee L’26.

About Elon Law Review

The Elon 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 Elon Law

Elon 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 school’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.

Elon 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 Magazine’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings.

Elon 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 Elon Law to expand its signature 2.5-year J.D. program to Charlotte.

Beginning in Fall 2027, students in Charlotte’s full-time and Flex programs will attend classes on the Queens University of Charlotte campus in Myers Park. Elon 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 ľĂľĂČČ’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 — meaning this year’s new students could graduate as soon as March 2030 — 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 Elon Law.

“You 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,” Woodlief said. “You should be proud of your admission to the Flex Program and motivated to live up to the high expectations we have for you.”

48 — Total Enrollment of the Entering Class of Fall 2026

154 — Median LSAT

66% Female | 34% Male

31% — ľĂľĂČČ of Color

29 — Average Age

20+ — Members holding advanced degrees

27% — First-Generation College ľĂľĂČČ

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 ľĂľĂČČ 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 ľĂľĂČČ 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 — 23% of the class — already work in the legal field, including as paralegals and legal assistants. Others have built careers in banking and finance, real estate, nursing, journalism, ľĂľĂČČ and sports coaching.

The class also reflects the Flex Program’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.

“We look forward to witnessing firsthand your accomplishments to come — over the next four years and throughout your careers as Elon lawyers — as you channel this energy, focus, and commitment to excellence and service in your new chosen profession as pioneering lawyer leaders,” 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.

“The 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 — fighting for someone else’s interest as if it were their own,” Merriweather said during ceremonies held Mon., Aug. 10, at ľĂľĂČČ’s Charlotte Center at 330 W. Tremont Ave. in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood.

Merriweather leads the district attorney’s office for North Carolina’s 26th Prosecutorial District, the state’s largest. His connection to Elon Law is also personal: his wife, Lila Riley L’10, is a member of the law school’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 Attorney’s Office.

“Those who are fulfilled in this practice believe that it is something that we are called to do,” Merriweather said. “If 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 someone’s story with full impact.”

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.  Future clients and colleagues must be able to rely on a lawyer’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: “What are you here to do?”

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 LF’28, a member of the program’s inaugural cohort, encouraged new students to build a supportive community rather than view classmates as competitors.

“The relationships you grow here will matter just as much as the cases you’re going to have to study,” Angel said. “So introduce yourself, form the study group, share an outline and celebrate each other’s wins instead of measuring yourself against them. The legal profession needs more lawyers who compete with integrity and lead with generosity.”

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 “marvel at” and respect the work they have done to organize their lives around pursuing a legal education.

The ceremony concluded with an Elon tradition connecting the newest law students to the university’s name and history. “Elon” 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 Merriweather’s message about finding a calling in the law, urging students to lean into the law school experience and promising that Elon Law would take seriously their ambitions and dreams.

“Your 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,” Kramer said. “The 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.”

About Elon Law

Elon 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 school’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.

Elon 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 Magazine’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings. In 2026, Elon 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 Elon Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study for place-bound students at ľĂľĂČČ’s Charlotte campus, welcomed 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 Elon 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 — and one relationship — at a time.

Taylor didn’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” Elon 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,” McClenny said. “You 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.”

Provost Rebecca Kohn welcomed students to ľĂľĂČČ and introduced one of the university’s longstanding traditions. Named for the Hebrew word for “oak,” Elon 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 Elon and the continued growth that lies ahead.

Kohn also highlighted the close faculty mentorship and academic rigor that define the Elon experience.

“Elon Law faculty engage with students both inside and outside the classroom,” Kohn said. “They’re known for their accessibility and responsiveness to students, and they will stretch you and challenge you more than you thought possible.”

Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer closed the ceremony by reflecting on a conversation with with Taylor before Convocation. Taylor told him she hadn’t envisioned becoming a judge until an Elon 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 Elon is completely committed to helping you get there,” Kramer said. “We 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.”

 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 Elon 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 Elon Law’s Pro Bono Board in partnership with — an agency that advocates for and serves immigrants in the Triad — 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 — including an Elon Law alumna and a faculty member — 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.

“You 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.”
— 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,” said Omer, now an associate attorney with Vrapi Weeks Immigration Attorneys in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “You 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.” Elon Law students “were wonderful and jumped right in. They didn’t hang back.”

“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.”
— 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,” she wrote.

Haile, who also supervised students during the clinic, said the experience demonstrated why experiential learning is critical for legal preparation. Some skills can’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 — 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.”
— Molly Hohler L’26

She joined Hohler and Shannon Ward L’26, current Pro Bono Board co-director, in accepting the award on behalf of Elon 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.”