RALEIGH — Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard has announced the 2021 recipients of the law school’s four highly prestigious, full-tuition competitive scholarships for exceptional applicants.
“Our law school is committed to doing all we can to make sure that every qualified student that wants to use the law as a means to serve others has the opportunity to do so,” Leonard said. “I am thrilled to announce this impressive group as the recipients of our competitive scholarships from the incoming class.”
Kelly Chauvin of Durham, North Carolina, has been awarded the Janette Soles Nelson Public Service Scholarship.
Since 2013, Chauvin has served as an Immigration Counselor for the Church World Service in Durham. She became a fully DOJ-accredited Immigration Services Coordinator in 2017 for the organization where she has been representing refugee, asylum and parolee clients in applications for residency, petitions for family members and naturalization, among others. Fluent in Spanish, her prior experience includes working with the NC Immigrant Rights Project as a paralegal/interpreter and serving with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, where she established and legalized the country’s Official Tourism Association. Chauvin is a 2008 graduate of Wake Forest University, where she majored in psychology and minored in Spanish. She earned a Community Interpreter Certificate in Spanish from Durham Technical Community College in 2014.
The Janette Soles Nelson Public Service Scholarship, which relates to Campbell Law’s history of educating highly competent, deeply compassionate lawyers who seek to serve others through the law, is offered annually to one exceptionally qualified student with plans to practice law in service to the public.
De’Jamont Henderson of Richmond, Virginia, has been awarded the Ben & Patrice Thompson Achievement Scholarship.
Henderson is currently a claims reviewer at Brown Greer PLC. A 2020 graduate of James Madison University, Henderson majored in Justice Studies and minored in Criminal Justice. While at JMU, she served on the Student Accountability Board, where she evaluated case files to determine alleged policy violations and appropriate sanctions. As a member of the Justice Studies Society, Henderson volunteered at local transitional homes to help reintegrate individuals into the community and as a member of the Women of Color group, she facilitated educational programs for up to 20 students once a month to examine challenges students encountered. She also helped children with physical and mental disabilities as a member of Overcoming Barriers.
The Ben & Patrice Thompson Achievement Scholarship is offered annually to one high-achieving student who has overcome significant obstacles in life, such as socio-economic or educational hardships, disabilities or other major challenges
Sydney Kraft of Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been awarded the Cheshire Schneider Advocacy Scholarship.
Kraft is a 2021 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in political science and film, television and theatre. While at Notre Dame, she worked as a TA for a Foundations of Theology professor, served as an ambassador and performer in the Notre Dame Gold and Blue Co. and stage manager for the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. She is a competitive female a cappella vocalist and performed in the Pasquerilla East Musical Company Theatre Group. She also researched, analyzed and wrote a policy memo addressed to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on how to increase morale through the support of Bill 1433, “Department of Homeland Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engagement Act of 2019.”
The Cheshire Schneider Advocacy Scholarship, which stays true to Campbell Law’s mission to educate and develop vigorous advocates for championing and defending individual liberties and justice, is offered annually to one student with demonstrable success in advocacy programs such as debate or mock trial during high school and/or college experiences.
Kayla Zollinger of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has been awarded the Leary & Joy Davis Leadership Scholarship.
Currently serving as the Gender Violence Services Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since January 2020, Zollinger worked as a Crime Victim Advocate in 2018-19 for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney in Tacoma, Washington, where she provided advocacy and education regarding the legal process and in-court accompaniment and support for individuals impacted by relationship violence. Prior to becoming a victim advocate, she was the Workforce Program Director for Communities in Schools, Heart of Texas, in Waco, where she worked as a case manager for women working in the commercial sex industry. A 2012 graduate of Baylor University who majored in marketing and business administration, Zollinger earned a Master of Social Work (MSW) with a Community Practice Concentration in 2015.
The Leary & Joy Davis Leadership Scholarship, which keeps with the law school’s efforts to educate graduates who will become effective advocates and leaders for legal and social justice, is offered annually to one student with demonstrated leadership skills and the potential to become a leader in the law.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,400 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2021, Campbell Law is celebrating 45 years of graduating legal leaders and 12 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.