Regent School of Law Values Serving Others

Before they open Black’s Law Dictionary or master replying to Socratic teaching methods, Regent University School of Law 1L students learn the most important thing about law: serving others.

On Friday, August 21, students, faculty and alumni participated in the 7th Annual Community Service Day hosted by Regent Law’s Career and Alumni Services. The group of 160 broke into separate teams to tackle tasks with Foodbank, Union Mission, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Bridge Christian Fellowship, St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children and Operation Blessing.

“This is exactly what Regent is about and what we should exemplify,” said Michael Hernandez, dean of the School of Law, who spent his morning distributing food at Foodbank. “Anybody who’s able to get to the level of a law student is obviously blessed in a lot of ways. I think it’s important for us to recognize that blessing and share it with others.”

Aside from the scriptural charge of serving the “least of these,” Hernandez explained participating in community oriented projects will prime future law advocates for pro-bono work in their careers.

Kathy Stull ’09 (School of Education), assistant director of Career & Alumni Services, volunteered at Bridge Christian Fellowship, preparing items for the community clothing drive.

“Being an attorney is all about serving clients,” said Kathy Stull ’09 (School of Education), assistant director of Career & Alumni Services. “We want our students to start out the school year by serving people in the community, because the law school is about serving others in their careers.”

Stull said that many of the student organizations within the School of Law, such as the Law Review and Moot Court, made the day of service mandatory for their members.

“That was really exciting,” said Stull. “Everyone comes together and participates, and they love it. They get to meet lots of other students, that’s a big part of it. I’m really enthusiastic about the fact that a lot of the 2Ls and 3Ls come back and see the value in it.”

One 3L student was Lily Ilnitsky, who spent the morning volunteering with Operation Blessing. Ilnitsky has started every school year of her legal education with the service day, and found the perfect opportunity to pour into the lives of 1L students and share with them tips for their own educational journeys.

“It feels awesome to give back,” said Ilnitsky. “We’re doing a lot for ourselves by getting this education, so it’s good to be God’s hands and feet.”

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