University of Cincinnati College of Law Holds 178th Hooding Ceremony

For the 178th year, the University of Cincinnati College of Law will signal the end of the academic year with its traditional graduation, “hooding,” ceremony on Saturday, May 14, 2011. This year’s event, which takes place at the Aronoff Center for the Arts in downtown Cincinnati, begins at 1 p.m. and lasts approximately 90 minutes.

The speaker for this year’s ceremony is 1979 College of Law alumnae Barbara J. Howard, the immediate past president of the Ohio State Bar Association. Principal of Barbara J. Howard Co., L.P.A., a local firm that focuses on family law, Ms. Howard is a past president of the Cincinnati Bar Association. Active in the American Bar Association, she has served in the House of Delegates for many years, in addition to holding positions as a member of the Board of Editors of the ABA Journal and as a recently-elected Ohio State Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. Additionally, she serves on several boards including the Ohio State Bar Foundation, the Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor, the Board of Trustees of Xavier University, and the Boards of Trustees of the Athenaeum and Cincinnati Union Bethel.

At this year’s event Terence S. “Terry” Coonan ’95 will be presented with the Nicholas Longworth, III Alumni Achievement Award. This award recognizes law school graduates for their outstanding contributions to society. Currently executive director of the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Coonan leads the center’s efforts to educate and train human rights advocates and track human rights issues. He also serves as an advocate for human rights nationally and internationally. Prior to his work at the university, Coonan worked at the United States Department of Justice in the Executive Office of Immigration Review, litigated asylum and immigration cases nationwide, and worked on various United Nations human rights projects.

Also being honored are this year’s winners of the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching: Professors Marianna Bettman, Elizabeth Lenhart, and Verna Williams. The Goldman Prize is given to law school professors and is based on their research and public service as they contribute to superior performance in the classroom. For more information about the professors and their award, read their story here.

Howard will be joined on the podium by UC College of Law Dean Louis D. Bilionis, who will oversee the ceremony, and by several members of the faculty selected in balloting done by the graduating class: the faculty reader will be A. Christopher Bryant, Professor of Law; the Faculty Hooder will be Darrell A.H. Miller, Associate Professor of Law; and the Faculty Assistant Hooder will be Rachel Smith, Professor of Legal Research and Writing.

In an ongoing tradition, the college also allows for “guest” hooders, providing the person is a direct relative of the graduate and is also an alumnus of the UC College of Law. This year, two members of the graduating class will be receiving their hoods from a family member. The guest hood participants are:

• Andrew Goering, who will be hooded by his father, Stuart W. Goering, Class of ’82, who graduated 29 years ago; and
• Kristin Kramer Morris, who will be hooded by her uncle, Mark E. Sims, Class of  ’80, who graduated 31 years ago.