24th Annual Mentor & Mentee Award Winners

The 24th annual Lewis & Clark Law School 1L Mentor Program honored mentors Elizabeth Savage ’14 and Ryan Kunkel ’15 with the Andrea Swanner Redding Award. Mentees Chloe Williams ’22 and Jenna Richards ’22 both received the Outstanding Mentee of the Year Award. This year, the in-person ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19.

Lewis & Clark pairs incoming 1Ls and transfer students, with attorney mentors in the Oregon legal community, based on shared interests and backgrounds. Mentors give first-years advice on how to manage time commitments, develop into responsible attorneys, and network with lawyers in their fields of interest.

The law school organizes a number of events for students and their mentors during the school year, and the annual awards celebrates mentors for the generosity, commitment, and support they lend to mentees. In the 2019-20 academic year, 188 students participated in the Attorney Mentor Program.

The Andrea Swanner Redding Award was named in honor of the late Andrea Redding, who founded the Mentor program. Students nominate mentors who go above and beyond getting to know their mentees and providing them with tailored educational experiences.

Kunkel’s mentee, Nicky Blumm ’22 nominated Kunkel for the award. “Ryan deserves recognition as an excellent mentor for his thoughtful and thorough commitment to my development for the duration of my first year at Lewis & Clark Law School,” Blumm stated. “His conscientious and engaged mentorship has been an unexpected delight of my law school experience.”

Savage was nominated by her mentee Aime Lee Ohlmann ’22. Savage and Ohlmann bonded over both being mothers during law school. “She understood the slightly different playing field that [being a mother] involves,” Ohlmann stated. “Elizabeth does incredibly impressive work and has shared so many tips for success along the way, including study tips and exam tips for particular teachers. She is an inspiring alum and a marvel to behold, and has made it possible to imagine the light at the end of the law school tunnel.”

Mentors nominate mentees who made their mentoring experience positive for the Outstanding Mentee Award. Hannah McCausland ’14 nominated her mentee Williams. “Chloe was very receptive to the mentorship program and from the beginning sought to get the most out of the experience.,” McCausland stated. “Chloe actively initiated contact with connections I helped her make and checked-in with me regarding her meetings with those connections.”

Richards was nominated by her mentor Michaela Gore ’18. “My mentee has been great and really fun to work with,” stated Gore. “We have met in person a few times, but have kept in frequent communication by text message. She is my first mentee, and I believe that we will stay in touch as she goes through her legal career as we share many common interests and beliefs. It has been a real honor to get to guide her through her 1L year.”