Miami Scholars - Class of 2011

Erin Boatman
Erin Boatman has constantly been involved in projects that bring her closer to the community she serves. As part of the outreach group Sojourners for Peace, she was able to travel to an immigrant detention center in New Jersey and interact with detainees. Also, she worked in the Housing and Domestic Violence Departments at Harlem Legal Services, managing case-intake and attending particularly to Spanish speaking clients. Erin’s experience also includes work with the International Center for Transitional Justice where she coordinated the director’s visits to countries with volatile political and human rights climates. With the Center of Political Analysis and Economic Research, Erin traveled to indigenous villages in Mexico to research the political and economic structures which govern autonomous communities.  Additionally, she worked at the School for International Training as an advisor to college students, facilitating discourse between activists and scholars in order to help with the documentation of human rights abuses. As a law student, Erin has served as a Sr. HOPE Fellow, Legal Advocacy Alternative Break Site Leader for the Bahamas Crisis Center,  Chair of the Public Relations Committee on the Public Interest Leadership Board and recently placed 2nd in the world in the Pace Law School ICC International Moot Court Competition in the Hague.

Dale Dobuler
Since the age of 20, Dale Dobuler has been immersed in the work field, eventually discovering his ideal career once he began working on behalf of the juvenile justice system.  He dedicated himself to helping troubled youth who lacked direction in life. After successfully serving as Executive Director of a non-profit program for delinquent youth, Dale was named the youngest-ever Superintendent of a Juvenile Detention Center in the State of Florida. Dale’s extensive background in Juvenile Justice has allowed him to connect to the community in a unique way and see the strengths and weaknesses of the system first hand. He has been honored with numerous awards which include, but are not limited to, the following: Eleventh Judicial Circuit in the Wall of Honor Ceremony (2006), Superintendent of the Year (2004) and Outstanding Leadership of the Year (2000).  As a law student, Dale serves as the Co-Chair of the Public Interest Leadership Board, the Treasurer of the Society of Bar and Gavel, the President of the Criminal Law Society, is a member of the Moot Court Board and is on the University of Miami Law Review.

Betsy Havens
Armed with a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina’s School of Public Health, experience as a Clinic Administrator who oversaw graduate students, and an endless supply of hope, Betsy Havens aims to spearhead the campaign to truly reform healthcare in the United States. Betsy faced countless impoverished individuals who lacked health insurance on a daily basis, with many coming to the clinic too late to receive the assistance they deserved and needed. Often sent directly to a hospital’s emergency room, many clients had severe infections or undiagnosed tumors, conditions that worsened due to inadequate medical attention. Sadly, preventative medicine is a distant dream for many of these patients. However, Betsy believes that during the coming years revolutionary health care reforms will take place, and she is resolved to fight inequities in the health care system and help build a sustainable effort to eliminate such disparities in care. For Betsy, basic health care is an intrinsic part of social justice and she has dedicated much of her efforts to working to advance health care as a HOPE Fellow and intern with Florida Legal Services.  In addition, Betsy is a member of the Moot Court Board and serves on the Public Interest Leadership Board.

Jeffery Hegewald
As a tenth-grade teacher for two years in the Rio Grande Valley through the Teach for America program, Jeffery Hegewald learned many things. Most importantly, he came to understand the value of a positive student-teacher relationship. Through field trips, out-of-classroom support and other school-sponsored events, Jeffery demonstrated the relevance of the material he taught and proved to his students the genuine and individual interest he took in each of them. Serving a population in which 95% of the students were economically disadvantaged, 25% of the girls were already mothers and the average reading level was close to that of a third grader, Jeffery was forced to play the role of administrator, disciplinarian and big brother as well as teacher. His time in the community, which amounted to more than 5,000 hours, serves as a guiding force to Jeffery as he moves through the legal system. Equipped with the understanding of what it takes to make others achieve beyond the status quo, he has a sincere conviction in the ideals of equal opportunity that first inspired him to help break the cycle of isolation, lack of direction and risky behaviors that plague the youth of today. Jeff received the ABA and Florida Bar Association’s Environmental/Land-use Fellowship during the summer of 2009 and  serves as a leader on the development committee of the Public Interest Leadership Board. He is also a member of Miami Street Law and a HOPE Financial Literacy Team Leader.

Courtney Jordan
Whether tutoring kindergarteners in Dayton or summiting glaciers in Alaska, writing development grants in Guatemala, strengthening volunteer programs in Tucson, or interviewing women in Chile, Courtney Jordan has developed a profound awareness of the communities she serves. Having worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, she was able to assist in developing ecotourism initiatives in the country. In the process, she had to break numerous language, cultural and gender barriers while working in the rural village of Maya Q’eqchi.  Courtney’s work in Chile included field research incorporating interviews of females who were involved in the women’s movement in the country. After learning how to interact independently with a wide variety of cultures and traditions, Courtney has come to appreciate the inextricable link between the law and human rights for all. As a law student, she continues to dedicate herself to the advancement of human rights.  In the summer of 2009, she served as a HOPE Fellow with Timap for Justice in Sierra Leone. In addition, she is a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board, the International Law Society, and a Leader of  Community Partnership for the Homeless.

Mason Kerns
As a reporter for the Daily Iowan and the Des Moines Register, Mason Kerns has interviewed a wide array of individuals, ranging from Barack Obama to the homeless citizens of the city. Through his journalistic endeavors, Mason not only refined his language abilities, but he also developed a more profound understanding of the issues faced across all spheres of society, particularly in the legal arena. His investigative journalism on American ties to the genocide in Darfur merited a nomination for the Hearst Journalism Award for Investigative Reporting. Determined to take a position on the front lines of these issues, Mason also worked for social equality in justice in a more direct manner.  Through the University of Iowa Project Equality, an organization focused on attaining rights for the LGBT community Mason co-founded, he coordinated numerous projects to benefit those in need, including a Dance Marathon to raise money for pediatric cancer patients. In the summer of 2009, Mason served as an intern with the (was he a HOPE Fellow) ACLU. In the summer of 2009, Mason served as an intern with the ACLU of Florida. As an intern, he worked for the GLBT Advocacy Project  on cases related to harassment of gay/lesbian groups in rural Florida public schools, gay adoption rights and the discriminatory searches, seizures and harassment of gay males in Miami Beach. In addition, as a project leader for Running for HOPE, Mason assembled a team of about fifty students to run the ING marathon, raising funds for a HOPE Fellowship.  Mason has also served as co-chair of the Development Committee for the Public Interest Leadership Board, volunteers with the UM Wrongful Convictions Project, and teaches in the HOPE Financial Literacy Program.

Annery Pulgar
Annery Pulgar was involved with the University of Miami School of Law long before she was officially admitted.  As an undergraduate at UM, Annery worked with the law school’s Center for Ethics and Public Service’s Street Law Program. There, she helped create a new program site at Hialeah Senior High and worked with the program to teach weekly ethical case studies at local public and private middle and high schools in order to educate younger students about the impact law has on their lives. In addition to this work, Annery also served as a teaching assistant to two professors and participated heavily in student government.  Upon completing her legal education, Annery intends to work for the government where she expects to make a difference in the system by affording greater protections to the general welfare of all people. As a student, Annery is an intern with the Center for Ethics and Public Service Street Law Program and a member of the Inter-American Law Review.  She also received the Morgan Fields Scholar award to develop a project related to translations services for legal assistance agencies.  This past summer, Annery was a legal intern at the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, which represents the county in all civil matters. Annery is also the HOPE Books and Buddies Project Leader.

Shana Schoem
Shana Schoem’s involvement in the realm of public interest stems from her work with foundations such as Planned Parenthood and Alternative Spring Break. In order to facilitate this involvement into a career, Shana chose to attend UM Law because she feels that the law is something that directly affects every member of society in a unique way. Despite its importance, she recognizes that the legal system is difficult to navigate and these disparities are magnified for members of underprivileged sectors. With the goal of providing an equal opportunity for all, Shana has gravitated towards work with the immigrant community, formerly incarcerated individuals, women who are disadvantaged in the workplace and issues of international conflict and reconciliation. disadvantaged in the workplace and issues of international conflict and reconciliation. As a HOPE Fellow during the summer of 2009, Shana worked at the ACLU of Southern California and dedicated herself to addressing  racial and gender discrimination, LGBTQ rights and prison reform.  This year, Shana is an intern at the Children and Youth Law Clinic and is a site leader for the Legal Advocacy Alternative Break (LAAB) in Washington DC.

Kelly Sullivan
Kelly Sullivan’s accomplishments are far reaching, and her active role in social activism and public service is unfailing. As co-founder of Center of Hope, a rural Kenyan-based initiative, Kelly worked to expand opportunities for the less privileged by promoting greater international understanding through education, healthcare, recreational activities and community development. Kelly has been responsible for all of the primary tasks of the organization, which range from website management to fundraising. She has also traveled to Kenya for extended periods of time to supervise the development of the project. Kelly’s goal is to incorporate public service into a legal career that covers diplomacy and dispute resolution, civil and international human rights, racism and the law, and humanitarian crisis. She believes a law degree will help her make an effective advocate for a rights-based platform of justice worldwide. During the summer of 2009, Kelly worked as a legal intern at the office of the Horry County Public Defender. Currently, Kelly is an Immigrant Rights Extern at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. Kelly is also a member of the Student Organization for Human Rights and a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board. This summer, she will serve as a legal intern this summer for UNICEF in Geneva, Switzerland.