An Evening with Cassandra Sneed-Ogden
By Najmah Brown, 1L
While in town to prepare for the 2011 Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) six-week Summer Institute that will be hosted here at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in June, Executive Director Ms. Cassandra Sneed-Ogden hosted a San Diego Alumni/Student Networking Dinner. The dinner was held at P.F. Chang’s restaurant in La Jolla Village on Thursday, April 28.
For those who are unfamiliar with CLEO, it is a non-profit organization committed to diversifying the legal profession by expanding legal education opportunities to minority, low-income and disadvantaged groups. TJSL is a proud member of the CLEO Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education, and previously hosted CLEO Summer Institutes in 2006 and 2008.
TJSL definitely dominated the dinner table. There were about 30 students and alumni from the San Diego area. The evening began with everyone individually introducing themselves to the group. This allowed the group to get to know each other on a personal level. Ms. Odgen even made connections with attendees, based on what they shared, such as their hometown, university, sorority affiliation, and
hobbies. The event allowed TJSL students to create relationships with other students and attorneys in a very informal setting.
The main purpose of the dinner was for CLEO membersto connect and build relationships with each other. At this stage in our careers, we should meet as many people as possible but the goal is to build relationships and not just accumulate a business card collection. There will come a time when we need referrals and it would be most appropriate to ask for assistance from those we have developed
relationships with.
Ms. Ogden was very pleased with the turnout. She encouraged everyone to educate students about CLEO, so they too can take advantage of the various services CLEO provides. The attendees that were not members of CLEO were also invited to become CLEO affiliates and to get involved with the organization.
TJSL is excitedly preparing for the arrival of the 2011 CLEO scholars in mid-June!
