LAW, JUSTICE AND INNOCENCE INITIATIVE
BY DUDLEY BROWN
Gracie Hicks ’23 had plans to attend medical school after graduating from Wofford College. Her Psychology and Law class and its focus on wrongful convictions led her to change her mind.
“I recognized the weight they must have been feeling sitting in prison, and I couldn’t imagine being in that position,” says Hicks, a psychology major from Murrells Inlet, S.C. “We learned what other states were doing to reform the criminal justice system. We need to get the word out here, and I plan to dedicate my life’s work to this.”
Dr. Dawn McQuiston, professor of psychology, taught the class that inspired Hicks to shift gears and pursue a legal career. McQuiston, Hicks, Neeley Wilson ’23, a double major in psychology and government from Knoxville, Tenn., and Bladen Bates ’23, a psychology major from Greenville, S.C., co-founded the Law, Justice and Innocence Initiative at Wofford, a group that raises awareness about wrongful conviction through education, outreach and advocacy.
Wilson was the organization’s first president, Hicks served as vice president, and Bates served as secretary.
“There’s nothing like this organization in this area of the country,” says McQuiston, one of three Wofford faculty members serving as coordinators for the pre-law program. “There are so many students from the college who go on to be lawyers and judges in South Carolina. Because Wofford is so connected, the word about what we’re doing can get out. We have alumni support in a way that might be challenging for others.”
During the 2022-23 academic year, the organization hosted multiple events on campus, including panel discussions with attorneys, a documentary screening, a fundraiser for a nonprofit that supports victims of wrongful convictions and a letter-writing campaign during the Christmas season to several people incarcerated across the United States who are believed to have been wrongfully convicted.
Hicks and Wilson also attended the Innocence Network conference with McQuiston in April in Phoenix, Ariz.
“I am immensely grateful to the exonerees I met who shared their stories with me and the community that the Innocence Network provides,” Wilson says. “I will forever be moved by their passion to impact their community and their unwavering positivity despite facing the worst circumstances. I was also struck by the gratitude I received for trying to make a difference in our state.”
McQuiston says most organizations focused on supporting people who have been wrongfully convicted are based at law schools. She’s aware of fewer than five undergraduate programs in the nation providing such support, and she says Wofford should lead the way when it comes to discussions about wrongful convictions in South Carolina.
South Carolina is one of 13 states that does not provide compensation to people who have been exonerated of crimes. McQuiston, who is an expert on the intersection of psychology and the law, including the reliability of eyewitness testimony, says the state has been slow to pursue criminal justice reform concerning factors contributing to wrongful conviction.
According to the Innocence Project, mistaken eyewitness identifications contributed to about 69% of the more than 375 wrongful convictions in the United States that have been overturned by DNA evidence.
“I’ve already started talking to policymakers, and they’re interested,” Hicks says.
The initiative’s second year will involve increasing a focus on legislative advocacy. McQuiston says the group plans to host a regional conference on campus in 2024 that would include exonerated people, attorneys and academics. Although graduating, Hicks and Wilson plan to remain involved with the Wofford organization. Hicks begins law school at the University of South Carolina in the fall, and Wilson graduated from Wofford in three years and will spend next year working or interning in the legal field while applying to law school.
“No matter my field, I am dedicated to contributing to the wrongfully convicted in any way I can,” Wilson says.
That passion excites McQuiston.
“Amazing things happen when college students get excited about advocacy and inspired to change the system,” McQuiston says.
EDWARD K. HARDIN PRE-LAW SOCIETY
Guiding students through a competitive process
BY ROBERT W. DALTON
Julia Allen ’23 is looking forward to starting at Campbell University School of Law in the fall to begin preparing for a career in commercial real estate law. Before she gets there, however, she’ll spend the summer interning with North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Philip Berger Jr.
Allen, a government and environmental studies double major from Raleigh, N.C., credits the support she received from Wofford’s Edward K. Hardin Pre-Law Society with helping her chart her course.
“They made me realize I was capable of going to law school,” says Allen. “That was probably the most important thing.”
The goal of the pre-law society is to support Wofford students who want to pursue careers in law. It provides an LSAT boot camp, advising and assistance with the law school application process. It also taps into Wofford’s vast network of alumni working in the legal field to bring in speakers and provide internship opportunities.
“The pre-law society is the biggest support group for students who are interested in a legal career and applying to law school,” says Dr. David Alvis, associate professor of government and international affairs and one of the college’s three pre-law advisors. “Today, getting into law school and having a career in the law is a lot more complicated than it used to be.”
The society currently has 110 students. Alvis says membership continues to climb because the society gives students a look at available options in a field that has become more diversified.
“You’re not just doing criminal defense or civil litigation,” he says. “There are also opportunities working with nonprofits or working with in-house counsel. We have many students working for various committees in Congress. There is just a huge range of opportunities.”
Getting into law school is more competitive than ever, Alvis says. The society helps students build a complete resume and work on their personal statements. It also hosts a mock admission process to give students a sense of what to expect.
The LSAT boot camp is one of the society’s most popular programs. It’s five days of intense preparation.
“That was one of the most helpful workshops I’ve ever experienced,” says Allen.
Caroline Joy ’23, a government and philosophy double major from Knoxville, Tenn., says she appreciates the society’s comprehensive approach.
“I took the LSAT boot camp, and the professors helped me secure internships with Wofford alumni who are in the legal profession,” says Joy. “They just helped me tremendously.”
ANOTHER COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Students establish mock trial team and hold first regional tournament at Wofford
BY DUDLEY BROWN
Jordan Willey ’23 found himself missing something once he arrived at Wofford College.
The college didn’t have a mock trial team, and he enjoyed studying law and having legal discussions while competing with mock trial teams in middle and high school.
“I like justice in the sense that I like when there are rules to help us determine right and wrong,” says Willey, a government major from Moncks Corner, S.C. “We can come to an issue and work through it in a way that’s civil.”
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Willey sat at his dining room table and researched how to start a team through the American Mock Trial Association. He was able to generate interest on campus and convinced a professor to offer a mock trial course at Wofford during Interim 2022. The course helped recruit students for the team and allowed it to prepare for regional tournaments.
Last summer, Willey, who served as the team’s first president, interned in the Charleston, S.C., law office of Wofford Trustee Josh Whitley ’05. Together, they investigated how to make Wofford a host site for a regional tournament.
In February, the college’s Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts served as a courthouse for a weekend while 300 students from 13 colleges and universities competed in an AMTA regional tournament. Wofford was one of 32 campuses across the country to host an AMTA regional tournament. The college also had 25 students compete in the tournament on two teams.
The colleges and universities competing at Wofford included Clemson University, Davidson College, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, Florida State University, Furman University, Georgia Tech, Lee University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, College of William & Mary and Wofford.
Seventy judges supported Wofford’s tournament, and Willey estimates that 75% of them were Wofford alumni. Willey and other students, including Porter Thompson ’24, an accounting and finance major from Asheville, N.C., and Cannon Murray ’25, an undeclared major from Columbia, S.C., organized the regional tournament hosted at Wofford.
“What the organizers for the mock trial competition did was truly astounding,” says Dr. David Alvis, associate professor of government and international affairs and the Wofford team’s faculty advisor. “Not only did they successfully beat out many other large colleges and universities for the bid to host the event, but they invested an enormous amount of time and energy in organizing something that is usually done by a full-time administrator. The whole thing was a great testament to the enterprising spirit of our mock trial team at Wofford.”
Willey is pleased with the support that alumni extended and how the team continues to grow.
“It’s something I can leave behind that will benefit other people,” Willey says. “It can help students get into law school and set themselves apart. This will give us another competitive edge.”
Willey will serve as a field director for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign while taking a gap year before law school.
CLIMBING THE LEGAL CAREER LADDER
André Caldwell ’05 shares his story with students in the Career Center
BY JO ANN MITCHELL BRASINGTON ’89
When André Caldwell ’05 talks about climbing the career ladder, he uses the words quickly, efficiently and humbly.
Caldwell, senior counsel and director for mobility, surveillance and bombers at Boeing Defense, Space and Security, visited Wofford’s Career Center in the Mungo Exchange in March to share his career path and answer questions from students, many of whom are interested in careers in the law.
“I consider the weekend I came to Wofford to interview for the Richardson Scholarship the most pivotal weekend of my life to that point,” says Caldwell, who was awarded the scholarship and went on to double major in government and philosophy and become a student-athlete on the college’s track and field teams. “After that, I never turned down the opportunity to listen to possibility. My career has been a pipeline of relationships, mentoring and trust.”
Caldwell surprised even himself when he chose to attend law school at the University of Oklahoma, far from his family, hometown and Wofford friends. The decision, however, turned out to be what he needed, and the relationships he developed there led to an internship with the U.S. attorney’s office and a job as an assistant U.S. attorney (or federal prosecutor) after law school, an atypical path to that role.
“I’ve tried to pick the opportunities that would challenge me,” Caldwell told students. “That’s how you fuel growth, by making choices that stretch you.”
While in the U.S. attorney’s office, Caldwell worked a large-scale wiretap drug conspiracy case against the South Side Locos, a gang that was featured in an episode titled “Crazy Killers” on the FX TV series “Gangland.” He also prosecuted a doomsday prepper who was found in possession of a grenade launcher. In his four years as a prosecutor, he took 25 cases to trial and was awarded the FBI Excellence Award, presented by the director of the Bureau.
When Caldwell left the U.S. attorney’s office to work with Crowe & Dunlevy, at the time the oldest and largest law firm in the state, he did so with the idea of making himself a better candidate for a judicial position.
“I knew I needed civil experience,” says Caldwell, who later applied for a federal magistrate position and made it to the final round of interviews. Ultimately, the experience made him rethink his desire to join the judiciary and helped him realize that he needed another challenge.
Caldwell, now versed in commercial litigation and with the experience of helping the firm develop its white-collar criminal defense practice group, accepted a position with Ogletree Deakins, a large international firm that could give him the opportunity to return to the Southeast. At Crowe & Dunlevy, he was one of the go-to trial lawyers, mainly because of his courtroom litigation experience with the U.S. attorney’s office. At Ogletree Deakins, he was eager to build knowledge in employment law, and he helped establish a workplace investigation practice group, co-chairing the international arm of that practice area. With the firm, he quickly made partner and accepted leadership positions, including leading the firm’s Black Attorney Resource Group.
Then came another opportunity — this time with The Boeing Company in corporate law — thanks to the people who mentored him at the U.S. attorney’s office. He’s been with the company since June 2022 and is embedded in the mobility, surveillance and bombers group within the defense business division.
“It was a left turn in my career, but I knew the pedigree of the Boeing legal department, and I just kept thinking about how much I could learn from them,” says Caldwell. “So, here I am in a new challenge, and I love the challenge.”
Caldwell remains in Oklahoma City with his wife, Mary, and their three children. They’re both involved philanthropically in their community and seek to set an example for their children. To stay fit and destress, Caldwell has practiced judo (he’s good enough that he missed the London Olympics by only four spots), run marathons, cycled and journaled. Spending time mentoring and with those in his circle who have mentored him also remains important.
“I hope all of you have something,” Caldwell shared with students. “Lawyers are not far behind dentists in suicide, so it’s important to pick healthy patterns to protect yourself.”
Caldwell is enjoying the Boeing culture and says he’s “ready to sit still for a few minutes,” but if opportunity calls…