The Texas A&M School of Law Black Law Student Association (BLSA) chapter prepares to celebrate a year of accomplishments at its upcoming banquet. The Texas A&M BLSA Annual Scholarship Dinner and Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday April 5, 2014, at The Fort Worth Club. This year's theme is Road to 50: Realizing the Dream.
The BLSA scholarship banquet celebrates the achievements of the organization, honors its supportive alumni, and awards deserving students with scholarships. In addition, the banquet serves as a venue to motivate the students, faculty, and everyone who attends.
“While we simply want you to attend, we also want to let you know about potential sponsorship opportunities. The sponsorship packet details all the benefits offered,” explains Texas A&M BLSA president 3L Camesha Little. “Sponsorship levels range from the $5,000 Platinum Sponsorship to the $100 BLSA Friend Sponsorship. A good one is the $500 BLSA Table Sponsorship that would include 10 banquet tickets and more!” Sponsorships are the primary means of support for BLSA scholarships.
The banquet will celebrate BLSA’s outstanding results at the BLSA Rocky Mountain Regional Convention held Feb. 22-23, in Austin, Texas, and at the BLSA National Convention, held March 12-16, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The chapter and its advocacy teams had a strong showing at nationals. The mock trial team of 3Ls Marcus Johnson, Sheena Winkfield, Elan Longstreet, & Joshua Graham advanced to the quarter-finals.
The chapter is one of over 15 chapters in the Rocky Mountain BLSA Region. They brought home the following regional awards:
- 2013-2014 Large Chapter of the Year for the RMBLSA Region
- Most Improved Chapter of the Year for the 2nd time in a row
- Best Petitioner’s Brief Award - 2Ls Courtney Shorts & Shannon Barber
- 3rd Place Moot Court Team - 2Ls Michelle Gunter & Casandra Johnson
- 2nd Place Mock Trial Team - 3Ls Marcus Johnson, Sheena Winkfield, Elan Longstreet, & Joshua Graham
All of these competitions were won in dramatic fashion. Winkfield was a close second for best oral advocate. The mock trial team competed strongly in the regional finals, taking second place to advance to nationals for the fourth year in a row. Johnson has competed at the national convention for three consecutive years.
Texas A&M Law's two moot court teams had to battle against each other to determine which team would advance. Although only one moved on to nationals (Gunter & Johnson), both teams walked away with awards. Shorts & Barber’s Best Brief qualified for the Scribes Brief Writing Award Competition.
Little is very proud of the chapter’s success and thankful for its supporters, “We are so thankful to the team coaches, Doug Greene & Nikki Chriesman-Green ’09; the Texas A&M Law Director of Advocacy, Jennifer Ellis ’06; our chapter advisors, Professor Neal Newman & Professor Michael Green; and the Office of Student Affairs, Dean Rosalind Jeffers & Tyra Kelly, for helping our teams and our organization get this far! We are looking forward a great end of the year celebration at our annual banquet.”
If you have any questions or concerns or would like to support or attend the BLSA banquet, please contact Camesha Little at cethley@gmail.com or 817-689-4873.
Article contributed by 3L Camesha Little.