Faculty, student video series celebrates Women’s History Month
“Celebrating the Women Who Tell Our Stories” highlights heroines of the legal profession and champions of equality and justice.
Faculty and students celebrated Women’s History Month with stories about the women in the law who have inspired, encouraged, or nurtured their interests in the law, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cameroon’s first female lawyer, Alice Nkom, and longtime members of the Duke Law School community.
Gabrielle Feliciani ’23, Katie Fink ’24, Amanda Joos ’23, and Leandra Kede Yomo ’23 joined Clinical Professor Aya Fujimura-Fanselow, supervising attorney for the International Human Rights Clinic, in a weekly video series posted to Duke Law’s social media platforms during March. Each of their videos is listed below.
Gabrielle Feliciani ’23
As an aspiring lawyer interested in healthcare and FDA law, Feliciani chose to celebrate Maryland State Delegate Robbyn Lewis. Feliciani worked as legislative director for Lewis’ office for two years prior to law school and saw Lewis — a legislator, healthcare professional, and advocate — as a strong mentor.
Katie Fink ’24
Fink, who aspires to career in the judiciary, draws inspiration from Ginsburg’s legendary career on the Supreme Court, her work with the American Civil Liberties Union, and longtime role as an advocate for gender equality.
Clinical Professor Aya Fujimura-Fanselow
Fujimura-Fanselow is inspired by the bravery and tenacity of Mitsuye Endo, the chief plaintiff in a landmark 1944 U.S. Supreme Court ex parte decision. The court’s historic ruling led to the reopening of the West Coast to Japanese Americans after their incarceration in camps across the U.S. interior during World War II.
Amanda Joos ’23
Joos chose to celebrate two women at Duke Law who have been integral to her legal education: Lecturing Fellow Marilyn Forbes and Liz Gustafson, associate dean for academic affairs and counsel to the dean. To Joos, Forbes and Dean Gustafson exemplify how to be a great lawyer in private and pro bono spaces and do so with empathy and integrity.
Leandra Kede Yomo ’23
Kede Yomo draws upon Nkom’s example as a trailblazer in the practice of law in their shared homeland of Cameroon. The first Black French-speaking woman called to the country’s bar, Nkom is also an advocate for LGTBQ rights and the decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon.