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USD Alumni & Students Sweep Top Awards at La Raza Lawyers Association Annual Dinner

University of San Diego (USD) School of Law alumni swept the top awards and honors at 32nd Annual La Raza Lawyers Association Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 21, at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown San Diego. USD law students brought home three scholarships.

The dinner honored two USD School of Law alumni. Victor M. Torres, ’88 JD and ’84 BA, received the Attorney of the Year Award for his outstanding work combating racial profiling and discrimination. The Honorable Federico Castro, ‘71, received the organization’s Legacy Award for being an advocate, jurist and mentor in the Latino community.

Scholarships ranging from $2,000-$3,000 were awarded to eight area law students, including two from USD School of Law. Third-year student and USD La Raza Law Students Association Co-President Elysia Tilley, and second-year student and USD Law Raza board member Raùl Macìas were the two recipients from USD.

Second-year USD law student Camille Edwards was awarded the largest scholarship of the evening: the $5,000 Luce Forward Scholarship Award.

La Raza Lawyers of San Diego also announced community grants for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Each organization was awarded $3,000 for their hard work and commitment to civil rights issues.

The event concluded with the swearing in of incoming La Raza board members, including the organization’s new president, Lizzette Herrera Castellanos, ’02. Castellanos is an adjunct professor of law at USD School of Law as well as the law school’s assistant director for public service and diversity.

Along with her Juris Doctor from USD School of Law, Castellanos has a master’s degree in social work from San Diego State University. She has worked with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program as well as with the UCSD Bi-national Program, where she provided legal and regulatory assistance to children with HIV in Mexico and refugee clients from Africa.

Castellanos is also a professor of paralegal and legal studies at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, Calif. As well as serving as president for La Raza Lawyers of San Diego, she sits on the Lawyers’ Club of San Diego diverse women’s task force.

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Raùl Macìas contributed to this article.