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School of Law
Law Student Affairs
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Sidebar
April 6, 2026— Volume 15, Number 31
Happy Law Student Appreciation Week!
This national initiative celebrates the hard work of graduate, law, and professional students. Throughout the week, schools and departments across campus will host events to show appreciation for you (see event calendar below).
To kick things off at the Law School, stop by The Writs on Tuesday, April 7th for a coffee break, provided by Grad Life and Law Student Affairs.
Grad Life will also be sharing daily student shout-outs on Instagram. Nominate a friend, a peer, or yourself for a chance to be featured on @usdgradlife!
Shout-out form: https://forms.gle/yJuHgR1XvpBKMftA7
Submit Pro Bono Hours
Please submit your pro bono hours by the last day of classes! This is especially important for graduating students hoping to attain pro bono distinction. You must submit all hours via the Experiential Learning page of #HireUSDLaw and upload the signed verification form (signed by the supervising attorney or an email from the attorney verifying your hours). If you want to know how many approved hours you have thus far, check to see that the experience is "Complete” which means approved by our office. You will see your approved hours for each experience. To review program guidelines, please visit: https://www.sandiego.edu/law/careers/pro-bono-volunteer.php
Parking Impact - April 9th
On April 9, the S11 parking lot will close at 4:00 p.m. Parking Services will require all vehicles to be moved by that time. Please plan to park elsewhere.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, April 7
Bona Fide Bash
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 // 6 p.m.
Stone Brewing, 2816 Historic Decatur Road #116, San Diego, CA 92106
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Wednesday, April 8
Bagel Breakfast
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 // 8:45 a.m.
Student Life Pavilion, Room 401
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Thursday, April 9
Saturday, April 11
Sunday, April 12
Monday, April 13
Tuesday, April 14
Wednesday, April 15
Thursday, April 16
Yoga in the Garden
Thursday, April 16, 2026 // 4:00 p.m.
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, Rooms E/F
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Friday, April 17
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Announcements
Announcements from SBA
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - Noon-12:50 p.m. - SBA Budget Committee - Zoom
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - Noon-12:50 p.m. - SBA General Meeting - WH2A
Campus Concerns and Comments Form
Barrister’s Ball 2026
APPLY NOW: 2026 Golden Merit Award in Child Advocacy
Applications are now being accepted for the 2026 Joel and Denise Golden Merit Award in Child Advocacy, which is presented annually by the Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI) to a USD School of Law student who, while still engaged in the study of law, is already using their developing legal skills to help vulnerable populations of children and youth. Any 2L full-time or 3L part-time USD Law student may apply. Here are the details:
- To apply, write a one-page essay describing how you are using your developing legal skills on behalf of vulnerable populations of children and youth. Discuss one specific experience or describe your work more generally (e.g., your experiences working on behalf of Juvenile Court-involved children or youth or conducting relevant research and advocacy through CAI’s Child Advocacy Clinic, etc.). Include your name, email, and phone number and submit it to Elisa Weichel at eweichel@sandiego.edu.
- Deadline: 5:00 pm on April 17, 2026
- The award of $500 will be applied to the recipient’s 2026-27 financial aid package.
- Questions? Please contact Elisa at the email address above.
PILF Executive Board Applications Open Until April 8th
Are you passionate about serving the underserved? Are you interested in using your power as an attorney to drive meaningful social change? Join the Public Interest Law Foundation 2026–27 Executive Board. There are seven open positions. A list of the position titles and their associated duties can be found at this link.
Applications are due by April 8th at 11:59pm. Anyone with interest is encouraged to apply. Please find the application link here.
If you have any questions, please contact the PILF President, Shelby Durham, at shelbydurham@sandiego.edu.
Application: https://forms.gle/iy3pm9aYoyw2WGKq7
Description of the positions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_T2fukPsMy9zQBjNXV67ijjuXuns8AsqUrgk4hbTehc/edit?usp=sharing
USD NLG: Join Our Board!
Interested in furthering our mission? Want to be part of organizing social justice centered events on campus? Join our our Board! Applications due April 11, 2026!
Application Link: https://forms.gle/m7giSXNUoAXz7LxS9
Flyer: https://canva.link/k7ozjn3xa7gfyvy
LWR TA Applications for 2026-2027
Applications are now available for students interested in serving as a TA for the Legal Writing and Research Program during the 2026-2027 academic year.
Apply by April 21, 2026, using the following this link.
GSG Applications Open April 7th!
Interested in joining the 2026 - 2027 Graduate Student Government Executive Team? Positions are open for President, Vice President, and Director of Communications & Operations. Apply by Monday, April 13th.
Application link: https://forms.gle/J1oV9sXuM7awzk7PA.
Questions? Email gradlife@sandiego.edu.
Be Part of the 26-27 Pride Law Board!
The application for Pride Law's 2026-2027 Executive Board is open! The deadline to apply is Tuesday April 7th at 11:59 PM.
Position descriptions
The application may be found here:
USD Law Progressives 2026-2027 Exec Board Applications Open!
Interested in joining the executive board of the USD Law Progressives for the year 2026-2027?
Applications are now OPEN! Applications will close Monday, April 6th at 11:59 PM. If you have any questions about the application process, please email sdlawdems@gmail.com!
Link here to apply.
Family Law Society 2026-27 Executive Board Application
Advocates for Children and Education Executive Board Application
Join the ADR Team!
The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Team invites you to join our team and try out on April 10-12th, 2026. Gain hands-on experience in negotiation, sports law negotiation, mediation, and client counseling. By trying out, you’ll enhance your advocacy skills, build your professional network, receive mentorship, and even have the opportunity to travel nationwide for competitions. The tryout consists of a short 10-minute session with no written component—all interested USD law students are encouraged to apply. Tryout details are below:
Date: April 10-12th, 2026
Location: Over Zoom
Details: 10-minute tryouts in pairs, based on a one-page fact pattern (no written component)
Sign up here!
Scholarship
Outside Scholarship Highlights
Below is a partial listing of outside scholarships of interest for USD Law students. For a complete listing, please visit Outside Scholarships on the USD School of Law Financial Aid website.
SAIL Scholarship $7,500 over two years - Available to current 1L JD students who have outstanding professional promise and leadership potential. Students should demonstrate leadership, volunteer in public interest areas, and be knowledgeable of social and cultural issues of AAPI communities. Deadline - June 30, 2026
The Judge John R. Brown Scholarship $2,500 - $15,000 - Available to JD students currently enrolled. Deadline - May 29, 2026
Graduate Student Life
Are you interested in connecting with other grad students across USD? Grad Life offers a wide variety of programming for grad and law students. See the events calendar and sign up for the newsletter! Check out the Grad and Law Student Handbook as well!
Student Writing Competitions
Looking for a way to get published? Maybe earn some extra cash? Then consider entering a writing competition. Visit Writing Competitions webpage for current opportunities. Deadlines vary and new competitions are posted periodically.
CalFresh Program
We recognize the importance of the CalFresh Program available to eligible, enrolled students and strongly encourage all to apply. CalFresh provides food resources in the form of an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, which works like a debit card. This program helps many graduate and professional students purchase groceries 12 months a year. Visit CalFresh at https://students.getcalfresh.org/ to start your application. If you have questions about eligibility or need assistance with your application, please contact a CalFresh representative. Approval is determined by CalFresh and the State of California. Please contact the USD School of Law Financial Aid Office at lawaid@sandiego.com to request a CalFresh letter to submit with your application as supporting documentation. It is also recommended to include a copy of the 25-26 FAFSA Submission Summary (The FAFSA Submission Summary summarizes the information you reported on your FAFSA form and includes your estimated eligibility for federal funding, and your Student Aid Index (SAI) received by email from the Department of Education - Federal Student Aid after submitting the FAFSA) along with the CalFresh application, and USD supporting letter.
USD Food Pantry and Torero Closet
The USD Food Pantry in Hahn University Center (UC) 116 includes: food, school supplies, hygiene supplies, laundry detergent, etc. Additionally, we have a refrigerator and freezer to offer students fresh produce, dairy, and additional protein options.
The Torero Closet’s mission is to provide support and resources to members of the USD community who are low income students who express need, identify as former foster youth, homeless or at risk for homelessness, and those students who were emancipated minors or in legal guardianships. It is located at 5330 Linda Vista Road, just south of the West Parking Lot
TimelyCare
TimelyCare provides students with 24/7 access to campus health and counseling resources—anytime, anywhere.
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Sidebar is a weekly enewsletter prepared by the Office for Law Student Affairs and is emailed to all USD law students every Monday morning. It contains important deadlines, announcements and upcoming events for the following two weeks. Past issues of sidebar can be found online.
Submit your listing request online by noon on the Thursday before you wish the listing to run. Listing requests may be edited. Announcements will not be posted for more than two weeks.
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Law Student Affairs
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School of Law
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492
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