Katele Outstanding Student Award

Congratulations to our 2023 Award Recipients!

Erin Ackerson

I will be taking a gap year, and plan to work in Chicago as I apply for law school. In the future, I hope to pursue a career as a public defender while also working alongside wrongfully convicted individuals to help get them exonerated.

Gavin Bovre

I am joining the Dane County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy. I intend to use what I have learned through my college career to be a positive impact from within the agency. I also will be earning my Master’s in criminal justice after a gap year to settle into my full-time position. I also intended to continue working at the Department of Justice part-time to continue gaining valuable experience within the field. Eventually, I will be coming back to earn my Ph.D. in Sociology.

Grace Herrmann

After graduation I am beginning law school at UW-Madison! My intention is to pursue health care law.

Kaitlin Knocke

I will be taking a gap year to work, travel, and apply to law school (and possibly some dual J.D/Ph.D. programs)! I’m also planning to continue working on my senior thesis in hopes of publishing it in an academic journal. My current career goal is to become a labor attorney and work to support American labor union interests, while also continuing to explore legal research and academia.

Kayla Markus

I will be taking a gap year (or two) to work in Chicago while applying to law school! I am currently in the application process for legal assistant or paralegal jobs, which I hope will give me more experience before going to law school. As of right now, I’m not sure what area of law I want to go into and the goal is to have law school help me figure that out!

Lily Rosen

After graduation, I will be working in the mental health field in southern California. I plan to return to school to earn my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Eventually, I would like to work within the criminal justice system, conducting mental health and competency exams for courts. A special thank you to Dr. Patti Coffey for being a mentor of mine and for providing support and advising along my journey of personal, professional, and academic development.

Congratulations to our 2022 Award Recipients!

Shreya Bandyopadhyay

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies and Political science and receiving a certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies, I am planning to move to Washington D.C to pursue my passions for gender justice and communications work. I am incredibly excited to build upon the knowledge and experience I gained as a result of my time at UW and look forward to continuing my growth and education throughout my career. Thank you to my friends and family as well as to my incredible mentors who have advised me throughout this journey; specifically, the wonderful Frankie Frank.

Regan Hawkins

This fall, I will begin my legal education as a first year law student at Harvard Law School. During law school, I hope to support justice-involved populations and other marginalized groups through clinical opportunities and service informed by community-identified needs. After graduating law school, I plan to pursue a clerkship and a career in the public interest sector so that I may continue to engage in social justice work. I am entering law school with an open mind about potential careers and my place on the path toward social justice, and can’t wait to see what the future holds! A huge thank you to all of the wonderful people who have supported me throughout undergrad—family, friends, and UW faculty alike! 

Anusha Mehendale

After graduating with a BS. in Genetics and Genomics, and Legal Studies, Anusha will be working as a Research Intern at the Denu Lab in the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery for a year. Later, she plans on acquiring a JD/PhD (Genetics) joint degree to pursue a career in the field of Bioethics, primarily in the field of ethics related to Genetics. Additionally, she is interested in conducting research in the field of Epigenetics.

Derek Ruona

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies and Computer Science, I will be completing an internship in the Computer Science field as an AWS DevOps engineer. I would like to thank my wonderful legal studies professors; they challenged my thinking and made my college experience memorable.

Mikaela Steckelis

After graduating with a B.A. in Legal Studies and Political Science with Honors in the Liberal Arts, I will be attending the University of Wisconsin Law School to pursue my J.D. In the future, I hope to work in reproductive justice and human rights law. I am looking forward to this next chapter of my life and want to sincerely thank Frankie Frank for her constant support.

Emma Wardour

After graduating with a B.A. in Legal Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies, and Psychology, I will be attending law school at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. to pursue my J.D. I hope to work within the criminal justice system upon graduating law school and am further interested in legal work surrounding reproductive justice. I am very excited to begin this new chapter of my life and cannot thank those who have helped me along the way enough!

Congratulations to our 2021 Award Recipients!

Matthew Armbruster

After graduation I will be attending the 2021 Police Academy with the City of Madison Police Department. I am excited and honored to be able to serve as a police officer in the Madison community. I hope to utilize what I’ve learned at UW-Madison as I progress in my career to higher levels of criminal investigation. My time at UW-Madison was invaluable and I owe a huge thank you my instructors and advisors in the Legal Studies Department who guided me through my education and on to my career path.

Mayra Dominguez

After I graduate on Saturday, I will be pursuing a full-time job for the next year. During this year I will also be studying for the GRE and LSAT to apply for dual PhD and JD programs. I hope to study ways in which institutional racism can be dismantled, and to continue to fight for the abolishment of the school-to-prison for our Black and brown students who are subjected to the racism ingrained in the education system as well as the criminal justice system. This will also further our understanding of which polices can be implemented to abolish these systems and understand how intersecting identities illicit a difference experience in these institutions.

Emma Kramlich

I graduated from The University of Wisconsin-Madison class of 2021 with degrees in legal studies and social work with certificates in criminal justice and integrated liberal studies. My legal studies education helped me land a wonderful internship in the field of juvenile justice during my final year of undergraduate schooling. I plan on continuing my social work education at UW-Madison next year as part of the Masters of Social Work Program where I will specialize in healthcare. I am looking forward to interning with the UW-Hospital.

Olivia Lechnir

I’m going to attend law school in Fall 2022 to become a criminal lawyer because I want to bring some justice back to our criminal system. One day, I hope to become a judge.

Lauren Ortiz

After graduation I am going to France to teach English for eight months. Once I am back in the United States, I am planning to pursue a master’s degree in social work or public policy. I would like to work with justice-involved individuals and on reforming the criminal justice system.

Caroline Roesner

This September I will begin my career at Target Corporate in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I will be working as an Inventory Analyst focusing on supply chain management and am excited to be back in the state that I grew up in. I will also be looking for ways that I can stay active in my community in furthering social justice initiatives!

Talia Stein

I will be attending Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law beginning this coming August, where I plan to pursue sports law. I am excited to continue my academic career and start a new chapter of my life in Philadelphia! I cannot thank the professors and faculty at UW-Madison enough for everything they have done to get me to this point.

Congratulations to our 2020 Award Recipients!

 Jennifer Brown               Carissa DeLain                  Callie Kutasi                  Grace Mueller                   Katie Plachta

Jennifer Brown: After graduation, I will be joining the Jewish Child and Family Services Child Welfare – Foster Care team in Chicago as a Case Manager! I am beyond thankful for UW-Madison and everything I learned over the past four years through my academic, personal and professional endeavors. I look forward to advocating for children in this role and applying the skills and knowledge I learned through my all of my social work and legal studies courses. I plan to attend law school in the future, but I am eager to gain more professional experience before resuming my education. On Wisconsin!

Carissa DeLain: I am planning to attend law school in the coming years. Because I am graduating at 20 years old, I decided to take time off to work and gain more experience in the field before I enroll in law school. I just started my new job as a legal assistant with a single attorney general practice in my hometown. I am very grateful for my UW Legal Studies education and my instructors who always pushed me to work a little bit harder, aim a little bit higher, and put my heart into everything I do. Thank you, UW Legal Studies Department, and On Wisconsin!

Callie Kutasi: I will be attending Loyola University Chicago School of Law in the fall. I am excited to experience a new city and begin my life in Chicago. I am so appreciative of the faculty at UW Madison specifically those within the Legal Studies department for helping me to realize my potential and further develop my interest in criminal law. I look forward to seeing what the future holds. On Wisconsin!

Grace Mueller: I am very excited to announce that I will be starting the 2020 Police Academy with the City of Madison Police Department next month. I am overjoyed to serve and protect the City of Madison as a Police Officer. As my time on the UW Women’s Basketball team comes to a close, I am thrilled to join a new team with MPD and begin this next chapter of my life.

Katie Plachta: I am excited to begin my 1L studies at the University of Wisconsin Law School in the fall. In the meantime, I will continue working at the UW System’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Compliance and Integrity who have provided me with so much academic and professional advice over the past year. I hope to pursue a career in law that will allow me to utilize my scientific background, whether that is patent litigation or environmental law. Madison has become my home over the past four years and I am looking forward to spending many more evenings at the Terrace!

Congratulations to our 2019 Award Recipients: Deeba Abrishamchi, Madison Neinfeldt, Maria Palivos, Karen Perez-Wilson, and Yi Wu.

The 2018 Award Recipients

The 2018 Award Recipients were: Sydney Beecher, Lillian Childress, Craig Farner, Kate Faryniaz, Kate Stone, and Rachel Zierden

The 2017 Award Recipients

The 2017 Award Recipients were: Olivia Blauert, Marielos Cabrera, Giovanna Stern, Julia Tabat, and Angela Whicher

The 2016 Award Recipients

The 2016 Award Recipients were: Colleen Albregt, Sehr Kahn, Samantha Kalsow, Kara Kurland, Leah Rafferty, and Hana Yamahiro (no picture)

The 2015 Award Recipients

The 2015 Award Recipients were: Alyssa Bernett, Amy Johnson, Kirsten Lee, Callahan Miller (no picture), and Libbie Osaben

The 2014 Award Recipients

The 2014 Award Recipients were: April Pitzen, Anna Jones, Kristin McGaver, Holly Ryan, and Kyle Talma (no picture)

The 2013 Award Recipients

The 2013 Award Recipients were: Catherine Cwirla, Greg Docter (no picture), Allison Gilmore, Sara Hilt, and Reginald Young