Two New Student Organizations Created at Georgetown Law

By Nicholas Nalbantian

Two new student societies were recently started by Georgetown Journal of International Law students, the UN Association of Georgetown Law and the Georgetown China Law Society.

UN Association of Georgetown Law

“An organization to promote and provide a legal perspective on sustainability and human rights issues, and give Georgetown Law students a voice at the UN."

UN Association of Georgetown Law

Started by two LLM students, Bianca McDonnell and Elisabeth Resch, the UN Association of Georgetown Law is a new Georgetown Law chapter of the larger world federation of UN Associations. The society hopes to promote the UN’s work on campus, highlight human rights issues, and raise the voice of students within the UN organization proper. The advantage of having a Georgetown Law chapter of the UN Association, besides no longer needing to go to main campus, is the law school’s future representation at forums in headquarters in New York or at the World Bank in D.C.

Bianca and Elisabeth are already providing a strong showing with over forty active members. Such a large membership allows the UN Association to have multiple focus areas, including business and human rights, sustainability, immigration, gender equality, and international law and justice.

Current plans for the society are really focused on the Spring 2017 semester. Bianca and Elisabeth spoke of their main goal as being a “UN day” in April 2017. This would be an opportunity to host panels on all the focus areas, leveraging the UN Association network to fill the panels with both academics and practitioners. For those who reminisce about their Model UN Team days, they are also planning a mock treaty negotiation in the spring, so dust off that North Korean/Iran/South Sudan lapel pin!

Georgetown China Law Society

“The Georgetown China Law Society is a student group dedicated to studying and discussing legal issues related to China at Georgetown University Law Center. It aims at providing a platform for students who are interested in, or wish to further engage with, the role of China in the American legal context.”

Georgetown China Law Society

The second new student society started from within the ranks of GJIL is the Georgetown China Law Society. I was able to chat with Junqian Yao, who is really enjoying working on the article selection committee!

The Georgetown China Law Society, or GCLS, is hoping to be a professional society to facilitate Chinese legal issues in the international and US legal context. In particular, GCLS hopes to participate in next year’s International Bar Association conference, reaching out to Chinese scholars in the Washington area to share their expertise. An excellent opportunity to increase familiarity with mainland China.

That being said, GCLS also hopes to have a social element to its membership. An opportunity to encourage cultural exchange between China and the rest of the GULC community. With the help of Professor Feinerman, GCLS has already had a successful launch party which attracted even Dean Treanor’s attendance. The membership of GCLS also hopes to host a Spring Festival celebration to mark the lunar new year at the beginning of next semester, an opportunity to cooperate with APALSA. Regardless of what comes next, the GCLS is happy for all to share in their upcoming events.