Before Shiu-Ming Cheer ’00 made her way to the halls of UCLA Law, she was already involved in the pursuit of social justice as an undergraduate activist at UC Berkeley. Her activism came to a head in 1995 when she, along with other student organizers, was arrested after performing a sit-in during a UC Regents’ meeting to protest the UC system’s plans to eliminate its affirmative action policy.

UCLA School of Law and its nationally renowned program in public interest law and policy solidified its position as the home of the country’s most promising public interest lawyers in 2023, as six graduating students in the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy earned prestigious fellowships to serve communities across the United States.

UCLA School of Law professor Scott Cummings has won the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award for 2023, with an additional citation for distinction in teaching at the graduate level. The honor is UCLA’s highest recognition for excellence in the classroom.