AUSTIN, Texas—Female students at The University of Texas School of Law compiled an extraordinary record of achievement this past academic year. Topping the list is the announcement that women comprise more than two-thirds of the membership of chancellors, the law school’s most prestigious honorary society.
Chancellors are selected based on academic prowess. Each year, the 16 students who have earned the highest grade point average in the law school and have completed at least half their legal education become chancellors. This year, 12 of the 17 chancellors (there was a tie between two students) are women, including three of the four top positions.
In addition, nearly two-thirds of the student-published law journals, including the Texas Law Review, are headed by women, as is the Board of Advocates, the student organization that oversees all intrascholastic and interscholastic moot court and mock trial competitions.
“This accomplishment is even more impressive when one considers that women make up only about 45 percent of this class,” said Michael Sharlot, dean of the UT Austin School of Law. “Women have historically performed well at Texas, and this group has done exceptionally well. My warmest congratulations to all of them for their outstanding achievement.”
The list of chancellors includes: Basheer Youssef Ghorayeb, grand chancellor; Brin Jeanne Friel, vice-chancellor; Aron LeAnn Gregg, clerk; Marcie Allred McFarland, keeper of the Peregrinus; Brenda Kay Lenahan; Heather Alyson Moser; Ellen E. Oberwetter; Laura Piazza Irani; Martha Lacey Russo; Heather Duplantis Savoy; Anne Alexandra Shirley; Anne Catherine Temple; Rachel E. Vanlandingham; Nicholas Jay Brunick; Luke Meier; Douglas Martin Rozek and Eric Lee Schele.
Female student leaders include: Tara Branum, Texas Review of Law and Politics;Jennifer Davidow, Texas Journal of Women & the Law;Brooke Grona, American Journal of Criminal Law;Jackie Montejano, Texas Forum for Civil Liberties & Civil Rights;Kelly Rock, Board of Advocates; Margaret Sampson, Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal;Carol Simpson, Texas Law Review, and Susan Watson, Texas International Law Journal.
