This year, the Student Bar Association (SBA) is running contested elections for the President, Vice President, and 3L/2L Senator positions. Each of the candidates’ arguments for 3L Senator are featured below, and voting will be open from Wednesday, March 17 until Friday, March 19. We encourage you to learn more about the debate and the candidates, as well as exercise your right to vote for your upcoming SBA representatives!
These statements are presented unedited so that you may consider the candidates based on their own work.
Ansley Seay
As a 3L Senator, I will advocate for not only my fellow 3Ls, but the entire student body, in these isolating times. My time as a 2L Senator has given me the opportunity to learn how SBA operates. While SBA has vigorously advocated for our student body this year, I have observed a disconnect between SBA and the student body. While all students are welcome at SBA meetings and SBA members are willing to discuss issues with any student, I do not believe all students know who to talk to about their individual concerns. As a 3L Senator, I hope to work with the Executive Board to find a solution to this problem, such as assigning each student a senator in their class. Such an assignment would give each student a point of contact to voice any concerns or comments about their individual experience, no matter how small.
Ansley Seay ‘22
Caroline Spadaro
Having served as a first-year council representative and as a current 2L senator, I have seen how our class has both struggled and succeeded in our first years of law school. We have built a wonderful community, but have faced adversity that we did not imagine, and it has resulted in many students feeling that their voices are not heard by the administration or by their peers. We are at our best as a community when everyone has a seat at the table, and I want to continue to work to amplify student voices to SBA and the administration. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to create a team environment in which everyone feels welcome, and should I be re-elected as a 3L senator, I look forward to work to ensure that our final year at UVA Law is one in which our class leaves a lasting change.
Caroline Spadaro ‘22
Chance Maginness
Howdy folks, it’s me again. I won’t take up too much space here because I think I outlined in pretty good detail why I’m running in the Presidential Platform section of this edition. But, allow me to take just a moment to tell you why I’m also running for 3L Senator.
Like I said in my Presidential blurb, I’m doing this because I care. It’s traditional for presidential candidates to also run for 3L Senate as a show of their commitment to this school. But this is more than just a symbolic gesture for me. I truly do feel that regardless of what position I hold, serving my fellow students (and fellow future 3Ls) is the most important thing I can do. I hope that you give me that opportunity.
Chance Maginness ‘22
Connor Kurtz
In 1970, Dr. Hunter Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen CO on the Freak Power ticket. His goal? To bring freaks, druggies, and dropouts into politics.
I’m the Freak Power candidate for SBA senator. And I’m campaigning like a rat in heat to give voice to those of us unrepresented by the dominant channels for official student representation. This disaffected group includes—but is obviously not limited to—centrists, liberals, conservatives; non-Dillards; 1L softball dissenters; the untrustfunded. We freaks want tolerance. We don’t want to run the place. We just want to be a small part of it.
I have little in the way of a platform besides a promise not to be an unthinking avatar for North Grounds orthodoxy and an aspiration to be the xylospongium SBA needs. Oh, and I’m proudly in the pocket of Big Hot Beverage, having sold my political soul to restore “free” library coffee.
Connor Kurtz ‘22
Davin Laskin
My priority for the 2021-2022 academic year is to bring back the sense of community and collaboration we had when I started in the Fall of 2019. Last year, events like dandelion, barrister’s, feb club, and fauxfield brought the law school together and served as a much-needed outlet for stress relief to complement our rigorous academic workload. Many students have expressed frustration with the strictness of the restrictions imposed on the law school and its resulting impacts on both students’ mental health and the school’s sense of community as a whole. By August, we will be in a much different situation – I believe it is imperative that we focus on social events and traditions to bring UVA Law back as the collegial standout amongst our peer schools.
Davin Laskin ‘22
Margaret Shin
My name’s Margaret Shin, and I’m running to serve as your 3L senator next year. SBA needs to be more proactive in cultivating an inclusive environment where everyone, regardless of background, ideology, or identity, feels at home; in educating the student body of and combating the isolation that diverse students often experience; and in working closely with other grad schools to ensure we’re in the room when decisions that affect us are being made on Main Grounds. I’ve spent the last two years as your SBA Senator working to ensure that diverse voices are seen, heard, and represented; to foster grace and empathy towards our classmates; and to work with the administration to increase the diversity of our faculty and student body. I hope to continue having these opportunities next year and represent the class of 2022 as a 3L Senator.
Margaret Shin ‘22
Molly Mueller
Next year, the 3L class will be the only one that knew UVA Law before Covid. I want to help make sure that the things we loved about UVA last fall still live on past the time of the pandemic, while also taking the opportunity to assess what needs to change. One of the most important parts of my experiences at UVA has been my connection with my classmates, so one of my priorities will be to create experiences to bring people together. As student body treasurer in college, I helped student organizations host events on campus. I would apply this programming knowledge to SBA events. Working with so many different student organizations in college also helped me realize how valuable it is to support a wide range of interests and initiatives on campus. Doing the same at UVA Law will help ensure that everyone can find their community here.
Molly Mueller ‘22
Morgan Maloney
Hello! My name is Morgan Maloney and I am running to be a 3L Senator. This past year on SBA, I have focused on two key issues: student mental health and the needs of public service students. Working with the Health & Wellness Committee, I initiated and launched the SBA COVID goodie bag program. As a public service student, I have sought to make sure that our particular needs were represented in SBA, especially around questions of clinic grading. This upcoming year, I would like to continue advocating for student mental health and public service students.
I sincerely hope that next year can finally be “normal” again and, as a class and a community, we can come together. But, regardless of the public health situation, I hope to make our 3L year our best year yet of law school. I would be honored to receive your vote.
Morgan Maloney ‘22
Valera Bamgbala
I would like to dedicate my candidacy specifically to the racial issues that have been brought to the forefront by social media this semester. As a 3L senator, I would like to extend myself to individuals and communities that continue to feel the blunt reality of racial issues permeate our community. As a 3L senator, I will be creating office hours in which anybody would be welcome to voice their concerns, and I will ensure their anonymity should an issue be brought to the SBA. As a woman of color, and a first generation lawyer, I believe I can serve as an excellent resource. Furthermore, I seek to increase inclusion across the board, through the Diversity Committee and the Programming Committee. “Diversity” should cease to be an ideal, and must become, at the very least, the baseline reality. A safe, supported, and diverse community should be our normal.
Valera Bamgbala ‘22