Iron Arrow Honor Society Elects UM Law Student to be Chief
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Second-year UM Law student Elena Smukler Doyle has been named chief of the Iron Arrow (IA) Honor Society, the University of Miami’s highest honor and oldest tradition.
Doyle, who was elected by the tribe to serve as the society’s chief in 2009, was tapped into the society in the spring semester of 2007 when she was an undergraduate at the University.
“It was really exciting,” said Doyle on being elected as chief. “Iron Arrow is about keeping the tradition of the University alive and it is exciting to be contributing to that.”
The IA honor society was founded by UM’s first president, Bowman Foster Ashe, in 1926 only a month after the University opened. It is steeped in the rituals of the Seminole Indian tribe and honors individuals who best exemplify the five qualities of Iron Arrow— love of alma mater, character, leadership, scholarship, and humility. Members of the esteemed group are identified by the brightly colored Seminole jackets that they don at official functions.
Doyle, a 23-year-old native of Miami, is the sixth female to serve as chief of the prestigious society. UM Law alumna Elizabeth Rodriquez, JD’89, was the first female chief.
“Serving in the Council of Elders, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Elena and found her to be an energetic and positive leader,” said Rodriquez. “She will lead Iron Arrow well in the coming year.”
In 1976, Iron Arrow was removed as a student organization at the University of Miami for its unwillingness to admit women. The refusal to admit women led to contentious litigation in the federal courts. The case of Iron Arrow Honor Soc. v. Heckler ultimately made it to the United States Supreme Court, with the plaintiffs arguing that Iron Arrow could not exclude women because the University of Miami was a recipient of federal assistance. Despite the outcome of the litigation, President Edward T. Foote II informed the tribe that it would not be allowed back on campus unless it decided to admit women, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
Finally, in 1985, a motion to allow women into Iron Arrow was passed at a special meeting (after no less than six previous attempts) and the tribe returned to the University of Miami campus. On February 28, 1985, Iron Arrow tapped Dorothy Ashe-Dunn, daughter of Iron Arrow Founder Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe, as the first woman to be admitted to the society.
Doyle will lead the society for a one-year term, serving as the president of the organization, coordinating events and activities with the officers, and representing the tribe to the University of Miami community.
Leadership seems to come naturally to the budding law student. She serves as president of the Hispanic Law Students Association at the Law School and as an intern in the Children and Youth Law Clinic. In addition, she has held memberships with Miami Law Women, the Criminal Law Society, the Cuban-American Bar Association, and the National Hispanic Bar Association.
Doyle has hopes of practicing criminal law as a prosecutor upon graduation. She has already gained some experience in the field, having spent two summers working with the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office, one summer with the county’s State Attorney’s Office, and the summer of 2009 working as an intern with Judge Bertila Soto in the criminal division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.
In 2008, the aspiring prosecutor earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UM, where she was a member of the Mortar Board Honor Society, the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. In addition, Doyle was president of the Federation of Cuban Students, chair of the Committee on Student Organizations, program coordinator for the UM Orientation in 2007, co-chair of UM Promoting Alcohol Responsibility to You, a UM Student Government senator, and a Pre-Law Ambassador.
On keeping it all together, Doyle says she only gets involved with things she loves. So to her, “it’s not work.”
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posted 26-August-2009
