Graduates Honored for Service, Leadership

The University of Dayton School of Law honored three students for community service and leadership during commencement exercises on May 5 at the UD Arena.  

Bo Jeffries received the Brother Raymond Fitz Student Leader for Justice Award, which is given annually to a law student who has followed in the footsteps of the University of Dayton’s former president by actively seeking ways to better the world by promoting community service and social justice.  

As a member of the Student Bar Association’s Executive Board, Jeffries helped overhaul the Student Bar Association constitution and revamp the association’s funding system. He also devoted nearly 200 hours of pro bono service to the Mental Health Legal Advisory Committee, Clubhouse Family Legal Support Project, which assists indigent, mentally ill clients.   

Dean Paul E. McGreal said that Jeffries’ “outstanding community service represents the best of our Catholic and Marianist tradition.”  

Chris Hempfling and James Kezele received the Lisa A. Kloppenberg Outstanding Leadership Award. Created last year by the Student Bar Association, the award recognizes a graduating student who has made significant contributions to the School of Law, is an exceptional student, and has shown substantial commitment to public service.  

Hempfling served on the Student Bar Association and helped organize many community events, including the law school’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Diversity Fest, Barrister’s Ball and the Dean’s Classic softball tournament.  

Kezele, a summer starter, was a unifying force for the law school’s summer and fall starters. He also served on the Student Bar Association and was instrumental in planning the School of Law’s commencement events last week.  

“Their generosity of time and spirit made Keller Hall a better place to work and to learn,” McGreal said.

During commencement, Dayton Law also honored 75 members of the Class of 2012 with the Pro Bono Commitment to Community Award. The class includes the largest number of Pro Bono Commitment to Community recipients, who donated almost 12,000 total hours of community service.