The Faculty of Law congratulates its 2013 Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award winners: Clifford Anderson, Anna Cooper, Danielle Glatt, Promise Homes Skinner and Albert Lin. The students, now alumni, were recognized in a ceremony on April 29, 2013. A total of 187 university students received the prestigious award. The awards were created to recognize students in their final year for their enthusiastic dedication to the university through extra-curricular involvement.
Clifford Anderson was a passionate volunteer and mentor with Aboriginal initiatives at the Faculty of Law and greater community. He volunteered with the Indigenous Law Journal, Downtown Legal Services and Pro Bono Students Canada, where he assisted on the preparation of legal resources for survivors of the Indian residential schools system. He galvanized students and staff to raise $1500 for the Feed the Homeless program at the Law Society of Upper Canada’s annual bowling tournament.
Anna Cooper founded the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society (ADRS) last fall to help increase awareness about career opportunities in ADR. She volunteered with the Peer Mentorship Program, which matches upper-year students with incoming students, and she was a strong supporter of increasing the program’s health and wellness mandate. She helped to: create a health and wellness website, embed a Counselling and Psychiatric Services counselor each Friday morning at the law school, coordinate weekly yoga and meditation classes, and coordinate pre-exam de-stress activities.
Danielle Glatt dedicated herself to student government in her second and third years while at the Faculty of Law, coordinated all club funding and organized many vibrant and inclusive events. She represented the law school in the Jessup Moot, led an International Human Rights Program working group, volunteered with Orientation Week, wrote for the student paper Ultra Vires, and was an avid intramural basketball and ultimate Frisbee player. Downtown Legal Services, the Faculty of Law Review, and Pro Bono Students Canada also benefitted from her volunteerism.
The Cressy awards were created to recognize students in their final year for their enthusiastic dedication to the university through extra-curricular involvement.
Promise Holmes Skinner was a tireless volunteer, dedicated to activities such as Orientation Week 2011, the Peer Mentorship Program, and the Accessibility and Diversity Committee. She was also an ardent supporter of Aboriginal initiatives, was the co-president of the Aboriginal Law Students’ Association, and a co-organizer of the annual Justice Conference for Aboriginal Youth, and the fall feast. She founded the Aboriginal Law Club. She assisted with “Promises Auction” to raise funds for a local Aboriginal organization, and with her June Callwood Fellowship, spent one summer researching the Crown duty to consult for the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation.
Albert Lin was the Students’ Law Society president in 2012-13, where he worked diligently to advocate for and represent his fellow classmates in student government. Lin was also the PBSC-McCarthy Tetrault internship volunteer coordinator, and PBSC Toronto chapter coordinator. He was an assistant editor of the University of Toronto Law Review as well.
The 2013 Cressy Award winners were featured in a story in Canadian Lawyers Magazine ("U of T grads honoured for volunteer work," May 20, 2013).
