Young Adults with Great Promise Attending Prestigious Indiana Supreme Court Program to Prepare for Law School
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Chief Justice Shepard and staff with 2010 Indiana CLEO Fellows High Quality Photo |
Students who face challenges getting into law school but show great promise to become successful attorneys and judges are participating in the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Summer Institute. CLEO is designed to assist Indiana minority, low income or educationally disadvantaged college graduates in pursuing a law degree and a career in the Indiana legal community. Biographical information on each of the following students can be found by clicking on the links below.
| Britany Adkins, Indianapolis, Indiana Michelle Angelo, Costa Mesa, California Jole Ann Awtrey, Evansville, Indiana Charles Bush, Clarksville, Tennessee Ana-Paola Capaldo, Miami, Florida William Carnes, Bloomington, Indiana Christopher Dilworth, Fort Wayne, Indiana Stepheni Ennis, Greenwood, Indiana Cara French, Valparaiso, Indiana Melody Hines, Indianapolis, Indiana Kiewanin Johnson, Indianapolis, Indiana Hannah Jones, Bloomfield, Indiana Robbin Lee, Fullerton, California |
Adrienne McDowell, Indianapolis, Indiana Amanda McIlwain, New Richmond, Indiana William Obermeyer, Crown Point, Indiana Yetunde Okunade, Memphis, Tennessee Lonnie Randolph II, East Chicago, Indiana Maria Rizkalla, Carmel, Indiana Ashley Rozier, Fort Wayne, Indiana Yolanda Ruiz, East Chicago, Indiana Marlon Smikle, Orlando, Florida Levy Wash Jr., East Chicago, Indiana Megan Wilkening, Cedar Lake, Indiana Adam Wilfond, Beverly Shores, Indiana Francisco Zamora, Robstown, Texas |
CLEO Fellows Share Experiences in Indy
Indiana CLEO Fellows from the class of 2009 talk about and share their experiences working during the CLEO Summer Institute in Indianapolis. This five minute documentary has insight from Indiana CLEO Director Robyn Rucker, herself a CLEO alumni, and Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, who has been instrumental in the founding and continued support of CLEO.
Hello From CLEO!
Chief Justice
Randall T. Shepard
With complete bipartisan support the Indiana legislature approved funding for an Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program in 1997, and the measure was approved by then-governor Frank O’Bannon.
I am proud that Indiana was the first state in the nation to have its own CLEO program to assist minority, low-income or educationally disadvantaged college graduates pursuing law degrees.
Since the program was created, we have helped hundreds of students realize their dream of entering the legal profession; we have African-American and Latino attorneys and judges; but we still have a lot of work to do and ICLEO is a step in the right direction.
The legal profession benefits when we recruit minority applicants and help them succeed. Our job is to ensure all citizens have faith and confidence in our system – faith and confidence that they are truly equal in the eyes of the law. When there is diversity at all levels of the legal system, our entire system better serves society.
When our ICLEO fellows graduate and begin practicing, more clients will be served by minority members of the bar, and more children will grow up with attorney role models in whose steps they can follow. Each class we graduate creates a wider and stronger base to build on.
Our ultimate goal is to have law school classes as diverse as any Hoosier neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Randall T. Shepard,
Chief Justice of Indiana
Randall T. Shepard chairs the CLEO Advisory Committee which reviews applications from those interested in pursuing a law degree in Indiana.
