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DePaul Positions & Accomplishments

Student Bar Association (SBA) Social Chair

As SBA Social Chair, I was/am responsible for planning one bar review per month, Fall Boat Cruise, Barrister’s Ball, and other social events as I see fit throughout the year. Social Chair is an executive board position, so I attend and participate in all executive board meetings in addition to attending and participating in all general board meetings.

            Highlights:

-          Organized a social event in nearly every popular Chicago neighborhood throughout the year, including River North, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, Wicker Park, Old Town, and the Gold Coast.

-          Organized Barrister’s Ball at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday, April 2^nd  with the assistance of my newly-formed Barrister’s Ball Committee. Over 320 tickets were sold, and the price per ticket was lowered by $5 in comparison to last year.

-          Collaborated with Phi Alpha Delta on a social event in March.

-          Collaborated with Chicago-Kent on a themed social event in September.

-          Collaborated with the Public Interest Law Association (PILA) on organizing the PILA Auction Karaoke After-Party to celebrate public service

-          Organized DePaul Law Appreciation Night at Underground, a private DePaul Law event with food and beverages.

-          Organized kickball and two bar reviews during 1L orientation week.

-          Represented the Student Bar Association at an Admitted Students Day.

-          Assisted the SBA Faculty and Curriculum Representative with conducting interviews of prospective faculty members.

-          Assisted the SBA Community Service Chair in planning DePaul’s first Mr. Law School, to be held on Saturday, April 16^th. The proceeds from the event will benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

-          Assisted the SBA Secretary in promoting the two “Meet the New Dean” events this spring semester 

Student Bar Association 1L Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC) Representative 

As a Dean’s Advisory Council representative my 1L year, I was responsible for being Section C’s liason with SBA, conveying information to the section when necessary. I waS also responsible for collecting and addressing any concerns my constituents had. I attended monthly DAC preparatory meetings and monthly DAC meetings with the deans of the law school. 1L DAC representative is also an SBA general board position, so I   attended all SBA general board meetings.

Student Bar Association (SBA) Constitution Committee Member

As a member of the SBA Constitution Committee this year and last year, I attended meetings to discuss and propose amendments to the SBA Constitution.

Black Law Student Association (BLSA) Community Service Chair

As the BLSA Community Service Chair, I am responsible for planning regular BLSA community service events. Community Service Chair is an executive board position, so I attend and participate in all executive board meetings in addition to attending and participating in all general meetings.

            Highlights:

-          Organized DePaul BLSA’s team for the Chicago AIDS Run/Walk in October

-          Organized a BLSA service opportunity during which BLSA members went to a Chicago Youth Center in Bronzeville. We played basketball, jump-rope, and dodgeball with the kids, and we held question and answer sessions about college and law school.

-          Organized a BLSA service opportunity during which BLSA members went to a Ronald McDonald House in Lincoln Park to cook and serve breakfast to the family members of seriously ill children currently being treated at the local hospital.

-          Collaborated with PBCSI and University Ministry to co-sponsor the DePaul Law team for the Chicago Cares MLK Celebration of Service.

-          In the process of organizing DePaul BLSA’s annual Law Day, a day when we invite local high school students to DePaul to experience law school through a mock trial, a mock class, tours of the law school, an admissions overview by Dean Burns, and student and attorney panels. Law Day will be held on Friday, April 15^th. 

Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) Student Coordinator

As PBCSI Student Coordinator, I am responsible for organizing one school-wide “Donate-a-Day” community service or pro bono event. I work directly with the PBCSI Director to ensure that every student at DePaul has an easy monthly opportunity to   volunteer his or her time to helping others.

            Highlights:

-          Organized the beach clean-up Donate-a-Day, during which DePaul Law students spent several hours cleaning up trash on North Avenue Beach

-          Organized the Pritzker Elementary School Donate-a-Day, during which DePaul Law students re-painted the ceiling and walls in a portion of the school.

-          Organized the Center for Disability and Elder Law Donate-a-Day, during which DePaul Law students attended a training session on advanced directives and powers of attorney and then hosted a workshop at a senior citizen home to assistant the residents with creating their own advanced directives and powers of attorney.

-          Organized the Chicago Cares MLK Celebration of Service Donate-a-Day, during which DePaul Law students were transported by bus to a Southside elementary school to paint tiles, mural, and contribute to the beautification of the school for the day

-          Organized the Ladder Up Donate-a-Day, during which DePaul Law student attended a tax law training session and then volunteered at a workshop to help low-income families file their tax returns

-          Attended monthly meetings with the other two PBCSI Student Coordinators, the PBCSI Director, CPIL staff, and the University Ministry Chaplain to discuss public interest at DePaul and share goals, concerns, and solutions.

Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) Committee Member

As a CPIL Committee member, I attend monthly CPIL Committee meetings where we discuss the state of public interest at DePaul, upcoming public interest events, and ways to further promote and develop public interest programs at DePaul.

Previous Leadership Positions

University of Chicago

-          Alpha Omicron Pi International Women’s Fraternity – Recording Secretary

-          Alpha Omicron Pi International Women’s Fraternity – Vice-President of Chapter Development 

Bolingbrook High School

-          Student Government President (Senior Year)

-          Key Club President (Senior Year)

-          Junior Class President (Junior Year)

CHASTIDY'S FIVE POINT PLAN

Ready to Turn Visions into Realities.

MAKING PUBLIC SERVICE A PRIORITY

As DePaul Law students and as future members of the legal profession, I believe we each have a responsibility to dedicate as much of our time and efforts as possible to serving others. We have a special opportunity to change lives with the work we have chosen to do. We are learning how to speak for those who cannot always speak for themselves, promote justice, and protect our most basic rights. I believe the spirit of these altruistic virtues should flow through our everyday lives, well beyond the classroom and the office. Through SBA, I plan to foster the growth of our Vincentian foundations through implementing initiatives that make finding and enjoying volunteer opportunities easier for the entire student body. 

-          The SBA Community Service Chair should organize at least one service opportunity per month to help students reach DePaul’s suggested goal for community service hours.

-          The SBA Community Service Chair should have a Community Service committee that works to create and maintain a database of service opportunities for students to utilize.

-          The SBA Community Service Chair should be available to meet with individuals to personally assist them with finding volunteer opportunities that are right for them.

-          The SBA Community Service Chair should meet regularly with the other DePaul Law public interest leaders to stay informed about opportunities for service and collaboration.

-          SBA general and executive board members should do one community service project together per semester to help set an example as good leaders.

-          At least one representative from the SBA general or executive board should be present at all major DePaul Law service events to show SBA’s commitment to service.

COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION

Student organizations are essentially at the heart of our DePaul Law community, and I plan to support each and every one of them by deepening the connection between them and SBA. SBA and other organizations share common goals, and I believe it is imperative that everyone works together to achieve our fullest potential. Each student organization has a diverse plethora of specialized knowledge and capabilities, and we all seek to promote academic programming, alumni networking, creating lasting social relationships, enriching our concepts of culture, providing valuable mentorship experiences, and simply leaving a positive legacy at DePaul. Through SBA, I plan to not only ensure that SBA plays an active role in assisting these organizations with effectuating their missions, but I also plan to encourage every organization to work with others in order to best serve our student community.

-          The SBA Liason system must be revitalized. Early in the Fall semester, a member of the SBA executive or general board should attend each organization’s first meeting of the year in order to explain the importance of electing or appointing a liason to attend SBA meetings and regularly communicate with the SBA about news from his or her organization

-          At every SBA general board meeting, each SBA liason present from other student organizations should present a brief summary including recent news from his or her organization and information about upcoming events

-          The SBA should produce and maintain a central calendar (with the help of other student organizations) detailing what events are happening around campus and when various student organizations are meeting. 

-          The SBA should produce a monthly e-newsletter informing the student body about recent student organization news. Our student organizations contribute so much to our student culture, and we need to be publicly celebrating and recognizing each other’s accomplishments.

-          The SBA should facilitate regular large-scale meetings including leaders of all student organizations in order to foster better group collaboration. The SBA should also host several social events per year for teambuilding among student organization leaders. We have so much to learn from each other and so much to gain from bonding with others who have committed to serving our student body.

-          The SBA should co-sponsor events with other student organizations as often as possible to show dedication to supporting all members of the student body and to strengthen SBA’s relationship with the organizations

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The SBA general and executive boards represent the entire student body, and our positions as leaders within the DePaul Law community come with great responsibility. I believe it is crucial for every student to know how SBA functions, particularly regarding the processes governing the budget, event-planning, constitutional amendments, voting, elections, and any other SBA undertakings. I also believe SBA board members must be held accountable to their constituents at all times. I plan to not only commit to accountability on my own behalf, but I will also commit to having a firm grasp on the rest of the board’s actions.

-          The SBA must continue to distribute a budget report every semester. The form of that budget report and the comments from the student body regarding the report should be reviewed shortly after distribution each semester to ensure that SBA is continuing to provide the student body with the information it is entitled to. 

-          The SBA Budget Committee should meet once per month (more often during the time that budget requests are due) to discuss funding, student concerns regarding the budget, and ways to most effectively fund upcoming endeavors.

-          The entire executive board must become fully-informed of the budget process and how the budget report is created and updated.

-          A member of the SBA Budget Committee should go to each student organization’s first meeting in order to speak about how the budget process works and what the deadlines for that year will be.

-          The SBA must ensure that the SBA Constitution is distributed to all incoming 1Ls during orientation.

-          The Dean’s Advisory Council Chair should visit each 1L section at the beginning of the school year to explain what DAC is, when DAC meetings are held, and how 1L DAC representative elections work. The DAC Chair should place special emphasis on the fact that no issue is too small to bring to your DAC Representative, and the DAC Chair should explicitly indicate how DAC Representatives should respond to issues (in a very timely and professional manner at all times).

-          SBA must create a method for students to anonymously voice concerns about issues on campus or about SBA. This could be done with a comment box in the student lounges or via an anonymous contact mechanism on an SBA website. 

-          Each SBA executive and general board member should maintain an active Gmail account with he or she can promptly respond to questions and concerns from the student body.

-          The SBA should hold a "town hall" meeting once per semester in order to give students a form for raising concerns.

-          Each SBA executive board member should give a “state of the union” at the beginning of each semester to address progress made on previous issues and to propose ideas and solutions for the upcoming semester. These speeches should be done via YouTube in order to allow the entire student body to easily access and refer to them. 

-          Each SBA executive board member should be required to hold office hours in the SBA Office for a set numbers of hours once per week. The schedule for office hours should be released to all students via DAC as well as posted on the SBA office door and personally distributed to each student organization to ensure a policy of complete openness.

-          The SBA President should meet personally with each SBA executive and general board member at the beginning and at the end of each semester to discuss that board members progress on fulfilling the duties of his or her position and how the President can assist that board member with achieving his or her goals for the position.

SBA PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNICATION

Every DePaul Law student is a member of the SBA. SBA is the largest student organization on our campus, and every student should feel that he or she can become involved in the way our student government runs. I plan to take affirmative steps to ensure that the entire student body is aware of exactly what SBA does, when and how SBA does it, why, and how he or she can help or suggest improvements. Everyone should know who his or her Dean’s Advisory Council representative is, when SBA meetings are held, how to amend the constitution, which board member to speak to regarding specific issues, and how to become more involved in the governing process. I plan to commit to expansively convey the mission of accessibility and inclusiveness that the SBA stands for by firmly establishing the organization’s image and highly publicizing what we are currently working on and the progress being made on ongoing endeavors.

-          SBA must have a fully-functioning and regularly updated website including but not limited to its meeting dates and times, meeting minutes, the SBA Constitution, the constitutional amendment process, the election process, the budget process, the budget report, a list of all general and executive board members (with pictures, office hours, and contact information for each member), a social events calendar, the community service opportunity database, a list of student organizations (with contact information, a list of executive board members, and 2^nd office numbers/locations for each), an archive of past SBA events and initiatives, and a mechanism for submitting concerns to board members. My goal is to have this website up and running by the 2011 1L orientation.

-          DAC Representatives should verbally announce each and every SBA meeting at least two days ahead of time to give students the opportunity to work attending into their schedules.

-          SBA meetings should be no longer than one hour to ensure that students who want to attend will only need to commit a short and reasonable amount of time.

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY

The challenging and highly stressful atmosphere prevalent at any law school must be balanced with opportunities for the student body to bond and build friendships based on a mutual understanding of the intense career path we have each chosen to undertake. SBA must use its wide network of contact information and resources to provide social events that appeal to every type of student at DePaul Law, including part-time students, students with children, commuter students, students living in any and all neighborhoods of Chicago, and students with different social preferences and customs. I plan to focus on providing SBA social events that allow all members of the student body to mix and mingle among like-minded individuals in as many types of setting as possible, far beyond bar reviews and formals. 

-          SBA should continue offering social events in different parts of the city to ensure that all students, no matter where they live, have the opportunity to attend. 

-          SBA should offer at least two non-bar review social events per semester to accommodate more students’ tastes in socializing.

-          SBA should continue building relationships with other Chicago law schools by hosting joint social events. 

-          SBA should support the student body during final exam time by providing midnight breakfast the Sunday before exam time. The SBA should also provide coffee and healthy snacks as often as possible during final exam time. The SBA should seek alumni/law firm sponsorship to fund these worthwhile services. 

-          The SBA should provide a week of celebration (similar to college “senior week”) for graduating 3Ls at the end of each school year. This week could include a group trip to a sporting event, a nice reception at a local restaurant with food and beverage, and bar review/bar crawl. The SBA Social Chair should create a committee to plan this week. Graduating from law school is a major accomplishment, and SBA should show the 3Ls how proud we are of them, how appreciative we are of the contributions they have made to DePaul in their years here, and how we wish them the best of luck on the bar exam and in their future careers.

-          The SBA should partner with Law Career Services to host at least one networking reception per semester with DePaul alumni.

-          In conjunction with its mentor program, the SBA should host at least one mentor/mentee reception per semester to help facilitate lasting and productive relationships between the mentors and mentees.