Defining Greatness: Chicago-Kent Hosts 2025 Public Interest Awards

“Oftentimes these days it can feel like hope and courage are scarce,” says Joseph Strom ’25. “But in this room, with all of you, I see it overflowing.” 

Strom is the winner of the 2025 Vivien C. Gross Pro Bono and Public Interest Award, which honors a graduating student who has made outstanding contributions to public interest law through their pro bono contributions and leadership. He accepted the award at the 2025 Public Interest Awards that were held at Conviser Law Center on April 22, 2025.

The event was an opportunity for the Public Interest Center’s director, Michelle Vodenik, to share updates about the overall volunteer efforts undertaken by Chicago-Kent students over the past year.

This was the third year that incoming Chicago-Kent students were invited to take a Pro Bono Pledge, which would mean dedicating themselves to performing at least 50 hours of pro bono work or community service over the course of their law school career. This past fall about 75 percent of the incoming class signed onto the pledge, up 36 percent from fall 2023. There was also an 8 percent increase in student volunteers, with 284 students reporting volunteer hours to the Public Interest Center.

Across the 2024–2025 academic year, 36  students earned the Public Interest Center Certificate of Service for volunteering for at least 50 hours, while the Dean’s Distinguished Public Service Award for completing at least 250 volunteer hours was given to eight students. 

The final service award, the Dean’s Exemplary Public Service Award, is given to students who have volunteered at least 400 hours during law school. Colleen McCormack ’26, Denis Milchev ’26, Dulcie Xue ’25, and Strom all reached that level of volunteer hours.  

The Pro Bono Student Leader Award is given every year to the student who completes the most volunteer hours. Christopher Lazare ’25 was 2025’s clear winner, putting in more than 1,058 hours, mostly at the felony division of the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. 

Lazare will become a full-time public defender with the Public Defender Service in Washington D.C.  upon graduating and passing the bar.

“[Martin Luther King Jr.] wanted us to think about how we viewed greatness,” Lazare said as he accepted the award. “He said that ‘He who serves is the greatest among us.’”

Matthew T. Jenkins ’07, partner at Passen Powell Jenkins and a member of the Center for Disability and Elder Law’s Board of Directors, received the 2025 Alumni Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award.

“I am a proud alum, and the work that [Michelle Vodenik] has done with the center makes me a prouder alum…so keep it up,” Jenkins said at the ceremony. “It’s a huge part of what Chicago-Kent stands for, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Emma Renken ’27 and Nicole Hentges ’26 were awarded Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowships, which are given out annually to two outstanding law students who have obtained unpaid summer positions at public interest organizations. Renken will spend her summer with First Defense Legal Aid, while Hentges will volunteer with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Two Chicago-Kent students also took on the responsibility of joining the leadership team at the Public Interest Law Initiative, which aims to connect those in need of legal assistance to free services. Ivana Bailey-Muñoz ’26 joined the organization’s Alumni Network Leadership Council, while Clayton Kovich ’25 acted as a student intern representative to the PILI Board of Directors.

Another pair of Chicago-Kent students are graduating with prestigious public interest fellowships lined up. Strom accepted a Skadden Fellowship to work with Equip for Equality, an organization working for equal rights for persons with disabilities. Xue will join the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project as an immigrant justice corps fellow.

The last award of the night was the 2025 Ronald W. Staudt Public Interest Partner Award, which recognizes organizations that make outstanding contributions to public interest law and provide opportunities for Chicago-Kent students to gain meaningful experience in public interest practice. 

Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr. accepted the award on behalf of his office.

“You know you’ll never get the flowers that you deserve, that you earned, but you do it anyway,” he said, speaking of his public defender colleagues. “Outside of the sunshine of public acclaim, despite public opinion, you show up every day and decide that you want to lead, and you want to help. I’m really proud to be a public defender, but I’m even more proud to work alongside 500 people who call themselves public defenders.”

Photo: Christopher Lazare '25 accepts the 2025 Pro Bono Student Leader Award [provided]