Skip to main content

Regent Law Announces New Hispanic Law Student Association

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States and in 2009 comprised almost 16% of the nation’s population. Yet, despite this presence, only 5.2% of the students admitted into law schools throughout the U.S. classify themselves as Hispanic.

Regent is committed to building an academic community that is truly representative of the population at-large, and so Regent Law is proud to announce its newest student organization: the Hispanic Law Student Association (HLSA).

HLSA’s mission is to “foster ethnic diversity and awareness within our law school community as well as to actively serve and maintain awareness of legal issues within the global Hispanic community.”

3L Melissa Bray is President of this fledgling organization. She attributes the low percentage of Hispanic law students across the country to “the unique cultural challenges that make academic success difficult for Hispanics.”

She went on to explain that HLSA is not only important to the Regent Law community, but to the local Hampton Roads community as well. At roughly 4%, the Hispanic population of Hampton Roads is significantly lower than the national average, augmenting the cultural challenges local Hispanics face.

“HLSA will help the Hampton Roads Hispanic community to combat cultural barriers, to promote higher education, and inspire Hispanic youth to pursue law,” said Bray.

Professor Michael Hernandez, whose field specialties include Race and the Law, serves as faculty advisor for the organization. “Hispanics are a vital part of the American community,” he said, “and this organization will help make Regent Law a more attractive place for prospective Hispanic students who want a Christian legal education.”

To get involved with, or for more information about the Hispanic Law Student Association, please contact Melissa Bray at: melibr3@regent.edu.

Regent’s 2010-2011 HLSA Board Members are as follows:

Melissa Bray (President)
Keila Molina (Vice-President of Academic Affairs)
Nicole Thurston (Vice-President of Community Affairs)
Jillian Shierts (Director of Finances)
Noah Tyler (Administrative Director)


 - By Molly Eccles

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Law Hires Two New Faculty Members—Both Yale Law Graduates—for Fall 2022

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (July 5, 2022) – Today, Regent University School of Law announced the appointment of two new members of its faculty, Erin Morrow Hawley and David D. Velloney.  Both Hawley and Velloney are graduates of Yale Law School.  Professor Hawley will teach constitutional law and serve as a senior fellow at the Robertson Center for Constitutional Law.  Professor Velloney will focus on criminal law, military law, and constitutional criminal procedure.   Professors Hawley and Velloney are the third and fourth professors added to the Regent Law faculty in the past year.  “We are incredibly fortunate to attract such exceptional teachers, mentors, and scholars to our faculty,” said Brad Lingo, dean of Regent University School of Law.  “Our students will love learning from professors Hawley and Velloney and benefit from the depth of experience and Christian perspectives they bring.” New Faculty Appointments: Erin Morrow Hawley: Associate Professor of Constitutional Law J

Regent Alumna Nominated for Two Judgeships

Tanya Bullock, a 2000 Regent Law graduate, has been nominated for a judicial position on Virginia Beach’s Circuit Court and for a vacancy in the city’s General District Court. Bullock founded the firm Bullock & Cooper with her twin sister, a 2002 Regent Law graduate. Bullock has been honored numerous times for her outstanding work in the legal field and on behalf of the community. Awards include Inside Business’s Top 40 Under 40 and Hampton Roads’s Outstanding Professional Women . Previous to founding her firm, Bullock worked as a local prosecutor. Only four others were nominated for the Circuit Court vacancy, including a current general district judge and a former delegate. Ten others were nominated for the General District Court position. Nominations were submitted last month to the Virginia Beach Bar Association, which distributed the names to members and asked them to rate the nominees. When the General Assembly’s regular session convenes on January 13, 2010, the local

Three More Regent Law Alumni Appointed as Judges

Three more Regent University School of Law alumni have been appointed to judgeships, bringing the total number of Regent Law alumni currently serving on the bench to 28. The Virginia General Assembly filled eight vacant judgeships during a special session on Thursday, September 18. Earle C. Mobley ’89 was appointed as a judge for the Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Mobley has served as the commonwealth’s attorney in Portsmouth since 2002. Phillip C. Hollowell ’98 was appointed to the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Most recently, Hollowell has served as deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia Beach. David Morgan Barredo '01 was appointed Culpeper County’s Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, as the new Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge for Virginia’s 16th District. In addition, Joseph A. Migliozzi ’94 (pictured) , who had been serving as a judge in Norfolk General District Court since 2009, was promoted to the Norfolk Circui