WS Chronicle

In photo above: (L-R) Jasmine Pitt, Bray Taylor, Elizabeth Bahati Mutisya and Gelila Selassie are award winners. They are members of the Wake Forest Law School, Class of 2015. (Photos by Erin Mizelle for the Winston-Salem Chronicle)

Chronicle Staff Report

The Wake Forest University School of Law conferred hoods on 181 graduates, including 13 African-Americans.
Four African-American women in the class of 2015 received awards.

*Jasmine Michelle Pitt of Clemmons received the Forsyth County Women Attorneys Association Award. This award is presented annually to an outstanding female graduate based upon her academic achievements, leadership, service to community, professionalism and commitment to the legal profession. Pitt has been executive editor of the Wake Forest Law Review; Student Bar Association vice-president in 2014-15 and previously secretary, 1L Class representative; National Trial Team for Moot Court; Domestic Violence Advocacy Center fundraising and event co-chair; Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity: Marshall; Moot Court: Co-Chair 1L Walker Competition.

*Elizabeth Bahati Mutisya of Raleigh received the E. McGruder Faris Memorial Award and $200 cash, which is given to the student exhibiting the highest standards of character, leadership and scholarship.
As editor-in-chief of the Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy and president of the Immigration Law Society, Bahati Mutisya has not only served as a leader during her time at Wake Forest Law, but in the university’s spirit of Pro Humanitate, she has also given back to the local community by volunteering with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.

*Bray Taylor of Paterson, New Jersey, received the American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law and Bloomberg BNA Award for the student who achieves the highest grade among the courses of Intellectual Property, Copyright and Trademarks.  Bray Taylor has been the marketing editor of the Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law; past-president of OUTLaw (LGBT Student Association); past president of the Wake Intellectual Property Student Association; treasurer of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society; and participant in Wake Forest Law’s pro bono projects, including the Affordable Care Act and assisting prisoners with legal research.

*Gelila Anbesaw Selassie of Charleston, South Carolina, received the North Carolina State Bar Student Pro Bono Service Award, which is presented annually to a student who has contributed time and talent to law-related service.