APALSA

Student Life

Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at Santa Clara University logo

Mission Statement:

We, the Asian-Pacific American students at the Santa Clara University School of Law, in order to promote awareness to the faculty, staff, alumni, and students of the School of Law to our needs and objectives, in recognition of our members in the legal community and for the support of Asian-Pacific American students enrolled in the School of Law, established APALSA. APALSA recognizes the importance and strength of each individual’s national identity, and welcomes law students of all races and ethnic diversities.

Description:

As one of the largest law student organizations at Santa Clara University School of Law, we strive to act as a resource for students to help them enrich their law school experience. APALSA offers an internal mentor-mentee program where first-year law students are paired up with an upper division law student to offer advice and insights about the 1L experience. In addition, APALSA participates in an external mentorship program with the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley. Students have the opportunity to attend the Annual Bay Area APALSA Conference hosted by one of the 8 Northern California APALSA each year. Every year, this full-day conference highlights current legal issues facing the Asian Pacific American community and brings together law students from all over the Bay Area, as well as prominent Asian Pacific American attorneys. Throughout the year, we organize general meetings, lunch-time panels, cultural events, and community service projects. We also provide our members with many professional and social opportunities to meet other law students, attorneys, and judges in the greater Bay Area legal community.

2023-2024 Officers

Co-President

Alisa Wakita

awakita@scu.edu

Co-President

Pauline Loyola

ployola@scu.edu

Co-Internal Vice President

Michael Tran

mhtran@scu.edu

Co-Internal Vice President

Melody Jung

yjung@scu.edu

Co-External Vice President

Hamilton Lin

hlin3@scu.edu

Co-External Vice President

Hannah Chang

hfchang@scu.edu

Treasurer

Evangelynn Sun

eesun@scu.edu

Communications Chair

Aska Fujimori-Smith

afujimorismith@scu.edu

Community Service Chair

David Gutierrez

dgutierrez@scu.edu

Community Service Chair

Taylor Ishida

tishida@scu.edu

BAAPALSA Co-Representatives/Co-Director of Fellowship

Bronson Wu

bwu2@scu.edu

BAAPALSA Co-Representatives/Co-Director of Fellowship

Alexander Tran

abtran@scu.edu

Instagram: @scuapalsa

External Links

  • Asian Pacific American Bar Association – Silicon Valley – www.apabasv.com
  • Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area – www.aaba-bay.com
  • Filipino Bar Association of Northern California – www.fbanc.org
  • Korean American Bar Association of Northern California – www.kabanc.com
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association – www.napaba.org
  • Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California – www.vabanc.org

Active Member Organization, Student Bar Association 2023-2024