Here at Longwood, one thing that is really stressed and emphasized is the concept of citizen and student leadership. There are plenty of examples within the Longwood community. One organization and its leaders are truly embodying that concept.
The Pre-Law Society, in just one short year, has gained a reputation of absolute professionalism and was recently awarded the title of Best New Organization last semester. The organization’s story began when its vice president, Alex Magid, first came to Longwood. After earning his associate degree at Central Virginia Community College, he transferred to Longwood in the fall of 2014 and enrolled into the Pre-Law program. In his Constitutional Rights class, he would meet the club’s future president, Mark Barham, another pre-law student and current SGA Senator. The two immediately hit it off and Barham explained that he and others had been trying to start up a pre-law organization, but weren’t quite sure how to start it. But, Magid did.
“I mentioned to him that I had this business background, because I own my company. I actually own an auto detail company, which I started up when I was in high school, because people said you couldn’t do it. They said ‘You can’t start a business,’ and I was like, ‘Watch me!’
With Magid’s business expertise and both of their desires to help their fellow pre-law students the duo quickly began to work. After discussing and gaining the support of Dr. Mary Carver, associate professor of Political Science, Pre-Law program advisor and now, the society’s adviser, Barham and Magid founded the then Pre-Law Club in the spring of 2015. With Barham as president and Magid as vice president the group started out with just four members, but in just one short year has grown to 38 members and has been renamed the Pre-Law Society. Magid believes the growth of the membership stems from their advertising, which included fliers and posters around campus, their Facebook page and radio advertisements, as well as the amount of things the society has been able to do for its members.
Their mission and motto for the organization is “Advancing undergraduate legal education.” The main focus is to help pre-law students gain connections to law schools, understand the law school admission process, including applications and interviews, as well as helping the students prepare for the Law School Admission Test.
The organization has made connections with nine regional law schools by bringing their admissions teams to campus including: Elon University, Regent University, Liberty University, William and Mary, Washington and Lee University, and Charleston School of Law. The society looks to bring in other schools, like the Appalachian School of Law, George Washington University, American University and eventually schools like Harvard and Yale.
Magid explained that by bringing these schools’ admissions teams to the students it allows them to make better and stronger impressions.
“When law schools come to campuses…some of these things that they do when they meet with the students is they take metal notes of everything you’re doing,” said Magid. “In this time period, the students are, whether they know it or not, are doing their first interviews and when the people go back they actually write up files about each of the people that they met with that evening. So we’ve actually had really good success with this in connecting the students with the law schools.”
The founders’ hard work is definitely paying off as currently 14 of the 38 members have been accepted into the law schools or have interviews pending.
He added, “A lot of them (members) attribute the success to having actually met with the admissions team who came down here and having a sense of who’s who, when they go for their interviews and they’re already familiar faces. This is what really sets students apart in the application process, from thousands of other applicants.”
In addition to connecting with law schools, the society also connects with legal professionals and in doing so, have brought in big name speakers and professionals who speak pro bono. They have had a live video conference with Sebastian Amar, Assistant District Attorney with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Real Estate Specialist Bob Schultz, and Jason Harbour, attorney and partner for Hunton & Williams law firm. On Monday, the Pre-Law Society hosted guest speaker Lance Barrett, the son of the College of Business & Economics Dean Paul T. Barrett, and an attorney with the Vanguard Group Inc.
Another sign of the club’s success is that members of the society have actually gained internships with many of the speakers they have hosted. In addition, Magid has received emails from students who attended the events expressing their gratitude and how listening to the speakers gave them insight into what they wanted to do with their careers.
“What we’ve kind of done with this law club…now the Pre-Law Society, it’s grown dramatically. We’ve become the pinnacle of undergraduate legal education in the state of Virginia.,” said the organization’s vice president. “We’re doing things that no other organization or university is doing for their undergraduate legal program and we’re really proud of that.”
He added, “We have now put Longwood University, other than the VP Debate, on the map for pre-law concentration.”
What’s even more incredible is how the organization has managed to do all these things without funding from the Student Government Association (SGA). The only funding they have comes various fundraisers and the fees of their 38 members, which is just $20 per semester. Magid explained that the organization itself doesn’t need much money to run. The member fees are used to give each speaker a personalized engraved crystal award, which he believes further, adds to the organization’s reputation of professionalism and the relationship with the speakers. For the immediate future, Magid does not believe that the organization will need SGA funding.
The Society has also worked to gain connections with 5 departments on campus including the College of Business and Economic, the Criminal Justice department, and the Education department. In the future they hope to build more connections with other departments as well as other club and organization on campus.
Magid stated that the club as a whole: “We try to hold ourselves to the highest level of honor and integrity and really live by the Honor Code here at the university. If we’re the law club, we need to be that cornerstone of honor and integrity and we definitely hold up high to that.”
He added that he is most proud of how the students have gotten involved with club and grow as students.
“It’s really been a great way for not only us to give back to the Longwood community and help the students, but the students, whether they know it or not, are learning from the experience by being in the club. It’s an educational tool…It’s amazing to me how involved the students have become in the organization and with the speakers who have come to campus,” said Magid.
In the future, the society’s leaders hope the organization can do several things such as, take trips to Washington D.C. to sit in on a courtroom trial, bring a panel of federal and district judges in Virginia to speak to the political science department, as well as the Virginia Legal Aide Society for an open forum on the American Disability Act and laws.
Looking back on the success of the club, the vice president stated, “Never in the time that I’ve been here, did I think the club would grow this rapidly into the level that it has. It’s really quite amazing not just by my account but also everybody who’s been involved in the club…I really see the society really turning into something big,”
With both founders and several other members graduating this spring, they are preparing the organization for new leadership that will continue the club’s reputation of professionalism and hopefully push it to new and exciting heights.
Magid stated, “We hope that they grow the club and continue to not only better themselves, but the incoming students and just they keep it going. We started something here, but we don’t want the fire to burn out. We want it to keep going.”
He added that the club membership is open to anyone in the Longwood community, including faculty and staff.
“We’re very inclusive of everyone and our goal at the end of the day is to help students,” stated Magid.
If you are interested in the Pre-Law Society, you can attend their meetings, which occur bi-weekly on Tuesday at 6:15 pm in either Ruffner 254 or 103, or you can email Dr. Mary Carver at carverml@longwood.edu.
An earlier version of this story had incorrectly stated the description of Lance Barrett's work.
The Pre-Law Society co-founders Mark Barham (left) and Alex Magid (right) stand side-by-side.
