The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey awarded scholarships to seven Rutgers Law School students this spring at its annual gala in May.
This year the association awarded a total of $74,000 in scholarships to 12 outstanding law students in the New Jersey/New York area and to two high school students, according to a letter from Hispanic Bar Association President Arlene Quiñones Perez. Perez said, “The Hispanic Bar Association is delighted to award scholarships to these deserving students. We look forward to seeing these students grow and continue to be leaders in their communities.”
Here are the Rutgers Law winners:
Francisco F. Guzman Andrade has been on the dean’s list for multiple semesters and will be a 3L student in Camden this fall. This summer he is working in the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s office and was a law clerk in the City of Philadelphia’s Law Department last summer. He has participated in the Hunter Moot Court and is part of the Rutgers Law Review, where he will be an executive editor in the fall. . He has taken part in the Domestic Violence and Bankruptcy Pro Bono projects and serves as the treasurer of Alianza – the Latino Law Students Association and was a representative in the Student Bar Association. He has been named an Eagleton Institute of Politics Fellow.
Francisco Guzman was one of the evening's scholarship winners.
Roger Castillo will be a 3L student this fall in Newark and is a first-generation college student who was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New Jersey as a child. He has worked as a legal intern with Lambda Legal, and also worked at the law office of Marcia S. Kasdan dealing with immigration cases. He was a judicial intern at the Hudson County Superior Court for Judge Radames Velazquez in the Civil Division. Castillo recently joined the Federal Income Tax Clinic at the law school and, this summer, is an intern at Weitz & Luxemberg P.C. He was the Co-President of the Association of Latin American Law Students this last school year.
Roger Castillo was another winner.
Steven St. Pierre Fernandez is earning a dual degree through Rutgers’ JD/MPA program in Newark and will enter his third year of law school this fall. He works as a project specialist in the Newark Office of U.S. Senator Cory A. Booker. During his first year of law school, he was elected the evening student representative to the Student Bar Association and the Association of Latin American Law Students. He is a member of the Minority Student Program, the Moot Court Board and a recipient of the Eagleton Institute Politics Fellowship. He was an intern for Judge John Michael Vasquez in U.S. District Court. His parents are from the Dominical Republic and he is the first in his family to go to law school.
Steven Fernandez was among the scholarship recepients.
Nicole Flores grew up in New York with her large family of Puerto Rican descent. She received her B.A. in dance and sociology, and graduated magna cum laude from Hofstra University. Despite her background in dance, Nicole went on to receive her Paralegal Certificate from a local New Jersey community college and began working as a law clerk, for Greenberg Traurig, LLP, in their Miami headquarters. In 2016 Nicole was accepted into Rutgers Law School with a merit scholarship, and has been named to the Fall 2016 deans list. This summer, Nicole will be working as a summer associate with Proskauer Rose LLP in their Newark office and will be serving as the 2017 – 2018 Vice President of Academic Affairs for the Association of Latin American Law Students at Rutgers Law School in Newark. She looks forward to creating rewarding programs for students at Rutgers, and continuing to foster a relationship between students and the Hispanic legal community.
Nicole Flores worked as a law clerk before entering law school.
Eric Macias is the President of the Rutgers Immigration Law Society at the Camden location. He’s made the dean’s list every semester of law school and has worked with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Legal Services of New Jersey, South Jersey Legal Services and Community Legal Services. He is a member of the Immigrant Justice Clinic and is this summer, is an intern with South Jersey Legal Services in Camden. He is a Camden native and hopes to go into politics.
Eric Marcias was among the winners.
Melanie Morales is a Newark native who attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate where she was involved in immigration advocacy and multicultural student affairs on campus. After college, she worked for indigent defendants as a paralegal at the Federal Defenders of New York, Inc. At Rutgers Law School in Newark, she is on the executive board of the Latin American and Asian Pacific American Law Students Associations and is the incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Rutgers Race & The Law Review Journal.
Melanie Morales was also a winner of the scholarship award.
Nicole Roman was born in New Jersey to Colombian immigrants and lived in Colombia for three years before starting high school in the U.S. She got her undergraduate degree at Ramapo College in Law and Society, and, as a law student, mentored high school student aspiring to go to law school. Roman was a research assistant for the Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity and is currently the Vice President of Community Affairs for the Association of Latin American Law Students. This summer, she is an intern at the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Nicole Roman was also one of the winners.
Sara Torres has served as the Vice President of Community Affairs for the Association of Latin American Law Students and is a member of the Minority Student Program. She is a Senior Editor for the Rutgers University Law Review. She interned for Judge Alberto Rivas in Superior Court in Middlesex County and this summer, is working as an associate at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP.
Sara was another scholarship recepient of that night.