Our Mission
“We the law students at
California Western School of Law, hereby ordain this organization, for the
purpose and principle of serving and supporting all individual law students, by
providing and promoting academic support, training and community advocacy, to
enhance the progress of individual Latino law students as well as the political
socio-economic progress of the Latino community…”
Preamble to the La Raza Law Student Association Constitution.
La Raza Law Student Association (LRLSA)
strives to promote and strengthen its working relationship with the San
Diego-Tijuana legal community and with other Latino-based, local
organizations: We seek to raise awareness about issues pertinent to the
underserved and underrepresented segments of the latino community: We aim to
enhance the social and cultural environment of the law school and advance its
spirit of diversity: We look to spur an active debate over the need for social
justice and system-wide reform through service and advocacy. This is our
mission. All students are welcome to join and / or take part in all LRLSA-sponsored
activities.
Pictured- (left to right)- Cesar Pena-Rivera, Renee Dehesa,
Doyna Dardon, Victoria Ikerd-Schreiter, Veronica Lomeli, Araceli Martinez, and
Marco Macklis.
Board Profile
President
Cesar Pena-Rivera, 3L
B.A. Business
Management, Marketing, University of Colorado at Boulder 1998, Minor in
Economics and International Business
Currently
working part time in a local firm, Cesar attends law school after 6 years as a
Marine Corps Ground Intelligence Officer. Cesar was born in Mexico until
his family immigrated to the United States when he was a small child.
Cesar's interest are in immigrants rights and assisting Latino youth in gaining
their interest in pursuing higher education.
cpenarivera@yahoo.com
Vice-President
Victoria Ikerd-Schreiter, 2L
B.A.
Psychology, San Diego State University 1999, summa cum laude
M.A. Human
Resource Management 2001
Currently
employed as a Law Clerk at the Consumer Center for Health Education and Advocacy
of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego.
Focus on Health
Law and Child/Disability Advocacy. Originally from Fort Worth and Austin
Texas, Victoria's father was of German-American decent and her mother from
Mexico City where she herself went to school until she was 7. She plans to have a career in public policy and service
in order to
defend the rights and needs of the disabled and indigent.
VISchreiter@law.cwsl.edu
Secretary
Doyna Dardon, 2L
B.A. Political
Science, minor in Sociology, University of California San Diego 2003
Doyna is
currently working at a small private Immigration Law firm. Originally from
Monrovia, CA, Doyna is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. She plans on continuing her life and
career in the San Diego area.
d_dardon@hotmail.com
Treasurer
Araceli Martinez, 2L
B.A. Political
Science and Psychology, minor in French, San Diego State University 2003
Araceli was
born in Los Angeles and raised in Calexico by her parents from Mexico, mother
from Mexicali, and father from Jalisco. Araceli is currently interested in
Civil Rights Law, and assisting the underserved populations of the Latino
community.
AMartinez@law.cwsl.edu
Community Liasons
Rennee Dehesa, 2L
B.A. Political
Science and Spanish, University of San Diego 2004
Currently
working at a Personal Injury Law firm. Renee was born in Mexico City and
was raised in Ventura, CA. She has not yet determined what area of law she
will go into, but will make her decision based on the level of aid she can bring
to her Latino community. She plans on doing the accelerated JD at CWSL and
will therefore be a 3L next semester and graduate this summer.
renneedehesa@yahoo.com
Veronica Lomeli, 2L
B.A. Spanish,
University of California Santa Barbara 2003.
Currently
working in a criminal defense firm, Veronica is assisting in the largest death
penalty case ever filed in US history (USA v. Mills). Veronica was born to
Mexican parents, and is interested in criminal law, helping the indigent, and
assisting the Latino community.
vclomeli@law.cwsl.edu
International LLM Represenative
Marco Maklis, LLM Candidate
J.D Universidad
Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico 2000
2001 Licensed
to Practice law in Mexico
Marco, who
comes from a large family of criminal attorneys in Baja California, decided to
begin his studies of US law when he assisted in his families firm in federal
defense cases and in US-Mexico extradition cases. Since then Marco has
been attending CWSL and working the California Innocence Project to assist in
cases and translations. He plans on taking the bar this summer and
practice law in both countries.
macklis@yahoo.com
Contact Information
- Telephone
- 619- 944-8803
- 619- 515-1362
- Postal address
- 350 Cedar St., San Diego, CA 92118
- Electronic mail
- General Information: laraza@law.cwsl.edu
- Webmaster: laraza@law.cwsl.edu
