AUWCL Students Receive Myers Law Scholarship
December 3, 2018
Two American University Washington College of Law students, 3L Stephanie M. Daigle and 2L Lisa Ndembu Lumeya, have been chosen as recipients of the 2018-19 Myers Law Scholarship.
The Myers Law Scholarship, AUWCL’s most prestigious donor award, provides one-year scholarships to full-time JD students who show academic promise and performance and demonstrate financial need. Scholarships are funded up to 125 percent of tuition.
“Congratulations to Lisa and Stephanie! They are both accomplished and deserving recipients of the 2018-19 Myers Law Scholarship, and we look forward to honoring them at our annual dinner this spring,” said Dean Camille Nelson. “The Myers Scholarship is a perfect example of how philanthropy can make a direct and immediate impact on the lives of outstanding students.”
With their academic and personal achievements, as well as active and generous engagement within the AUWCL community, Daigle and Lumeya were chosen by the selection committee from a pool of nearly 50 applicants. This year’s committee consisted of Professors Amanda Leiter and Llezlie Green Coleman, and Senior Associate Dean Susan Carle.
Lisa Lumeya: Honored to Join the Ranks of Past Myers Scholars
“I was shocked,” Lumeya said to the news that she received the scholarship. “I reviewed the bios of the students who had received the scholarship in the past when I was preparing my application, and I am truly honored to be joining them as a Myers Scholarship recipient.”
A Double Eagle who double majored in Law and Society and Public Communication at AU, Lumeya is now pursuing an international dual degree with Université Paris-Nanterre in France.
Lumeya worked last year at the Carter Center in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo as a human rights intern. There Lumeya, who speaks Swedish, French, and Lingala, drafted weekly reports in French and English analyzing human rights abuses in four DRC provinces. This summer, she was an intern for the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, drafting opinions and providing recommendations for rulings on civil and criminal cases.
At AUWCL, some of Lumeya’s current activities include serving as vice president of the African Justice Initiative and as a member of the Kovler Project Against Torture (KPAT). Lumeya recently returned from Geneva, Switzerland, where she and other KPAT members joined the 65th session of the UN Committee Against Torture.
Stephanie Daigle: WCL Gave Me Countless Opportunities Even Before This Scholarship – I’m “So Thankful”
Daigle, who is also working toward her MA in International Affairs through the School of International Service, is active in KPAT as well, conducting research and preparing briefings on treatment practices in countries signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture.
“The Kovler Project is an amazing opportunity to see human rights law in action up close,” Daigle said. “To have the opportunity to shape human rights law conversations at the United Nations as a student is irreplaceable.”
Daigle is also involved in AUWCL’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Lawyering Peace Program, and the International Refugee Assistance Project. This past summer, she interned full-time with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, D.C. in the Resettlement Unit. She is excited to participate in the D.C. Law Students in Court Clinic during the spring 2019 semester, her final at AUWCL.
With the myriad opportunities afforded to her at AUWCL, Daigle said “my debt was paid off 10 fold even before receiving the scholarship. But moving forward with a couple zeros taken off of my student loan amount is very exciting. I am extremely thankful.”
After law school, Daigle hopes to clerk in D.C., saying “there is no better way to do direct client work than having been on the inside of the decision-maker's process.” For Lumeya, she hopes to “come back to the states and clerk for a year [after graduation], before pursuing a career prosecuting international crimes," with the goal to work in international criminal law focusing on the Central African region.
Scholars Reflect on the AUWCL Experience
Reflecting on her time at AUWCL, Daigle said she has enjoyed working with other students who want to use their degrees for good.
“The WCL campus is unique because the school does a lot of areas of law really well,” Daigle said. “It’s been interesting to get to know students who are focusing on other areas of law. I know at the end of the day that their work will intersect with mine.”
Lumeya echoed the sentiment that AUWCL provides students something unique, especially when it comes to its experienced faculty.
“Having professors believe in you is really very powerful,” said Lumeya, who has been a Dean’s Fellow for Professor Paul Figley and calls him a wonderful mentor. Professor Angela Davis took time to meet with her when she was an AU undergrad, she said, even looking over her law school admissions’ personal statement.
“As a woman of color, learning from another woman of color who has made it so far in her career, and goes out of her way to help others, is extremely encouraging,” Lumeya said. “Professor Davis tries to make the world a better place for the people coming after her, and I hope to do the same."
Daigle and Lumeya will be honored at the Legends and Leaders Dinner hosted by the John Sherman Myers Society on April 5, 2019.