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Cesar Plascencia ’27 is originally from Whittier, California, but has lived in the Bay Area and New York City where he studied education policy, taught high school humanities, organized for a faculty union, and worked for several political campaigns. During the pandemic, he and some friends created a nonprofit that provided virtual tutoring services and a virtual summer camp. His interest in unions led him to Minnesota Law having earlier studied community unionism within the Saint Paul Federation of Educators.

During the spring semester, second-year law student Madeleine Kim ’25 spent hours poring over reports about the Nepali Civil War, which lasted a decade starting in the mid-1990s. She dug into the nuances of Nepali law, researched legislative reforms that happened in the aftermath of the war, and studied their impact on women and the LGBTIQ+ community. 

CC Rowe ’27 describes herself as a “non-trad student through-and-through” having earned an associate’s degree at 29, a bachelor’s at 37, and now starting law school at 48. She’s coming to the Twin Cities from the city that has “held her soul” for decades: Austin, Texas. There, she was a triathlon and running coach for many years until a series of injuries and illnesses. But she’s now recovered to the point that she’s registered for the Twin Cities Marathon Ultra Loony Challenge where she’ll run a 5K, 10K, and marathon this October.

Professor Emeritus Robert J. Levy passed away on August 16, 2024, at the age of 93, in Aventura, Florida. He was preceded in death by his loving wife the Honorable Roberta (Bobbie) Levy ’64, former Minnesota Law professor (1975-77) and his partner for over 63 years.

Shannon Jankowski ’17 remembers being in law school and having a conversation with a practicing attorney who asked her what courses she enjoyed. When she mentioned First Amendment Law, he had some discouraging words for her.

“‘Everybody thinks they’re going to be a First Amendment lawyer, but a very small percentage end up doing that’,” she recalls him saying.

Often, the early years are cited as the most crucial and stressful time for parents: late-night feedings, first steps, and helping children learn their ABCs. The list is long.

Minnesota Law alum Dan Solomon ’85, however, is on a mission to provide support for parents of teens and adolescents and their employers too. He sees this age as a time when children’s self-sufficiency emerges, but their needs are very much still in play.

Evan Bracewell ’26 is from Runnells, Iowa. He graduated from Iowa State University in 2023. This summer, he worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. He says, “I was interested in this position because it allows me to assist with incredibly important work while getting to experience life working for the federal government.”

Patience Ranjani McHenry’s ’26 hometown is Beaumont, Texas, by way of the Bay Area, California. For her undergraduate degree, she studied sociology, psychology, and African American studies at the University of Notre Dame (Go, Irish!). This summer, she worked as an Edward Coles Fellow at the Illinois Human Rights Commission in Chicago. She says, “There are so many nuanced areas of the law, and administrative law is one of them.

Dawn Dudley ’26 is originally from League City, Texas, about halfway between Houston and the ocean. She completed her undergraduate degree at University College London where she earned a BA in History. Her dissertation was on Native American interactions with local courts in the Dakota Territory. This summer, she worked at the Transgender Law Center (TLC) as an intern on their impact litigation team.