Under Professor Elaine Chiu’s leadership along with Director Kamille Dean, the Ron Brown Center and its Prep Program this summer heeded the urgent call for action from St. John’s Law students to address the continuing crisis of racial injustice in our country. In its 15^th summer, the Prep Program  had its first virtual summer and also its busiest summer ever, serving 95 diverse students across four distinct programs with their journeys to law school.  Three of the four programs were new initiatives; the High School Sports Law Program was especially ground-breaking because of the unique collaboration between two local professional sports teams (the WNBA’s New York Liberty and the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets) and the Law School. 

Here is a write-up in the New York Post, applauding the teams and the Prep Program for stepping up together to meet the challenge with meaningful, impactful investment into the future of young people. 

The efforts of the Ron Brown Prep Program would not have been successful without the hard work of many people including faculty members Professors Robin Boyle, Rosa Castello, Jeremy Sheff and Rachel Smith, program coordinator Christine Kowlessar (St. John’s Law JD, Class of 2019), and five outstanding current law students (Aminah Ali, Benjamin Ranalli, Ridmila Singh, Zachary Sobel and Ashley Williams).  We are also grateful for the commitment of Dean Michael A. Simons and Associate Dean Sarah Kelly.