The College of Law hosted a Swearing-In Ceremony for graduates on Jan. 29. Graduates who passed the bar in October were sworn into the Georgia Superior Court, Court of Appeals and/or the Supreme Court of Georgia during the event.
Georgia State University is the only school in Georgia where students can be sworn into all three courts. During the ceremony, 80 College of Law alumni joined the virtual ceremony to take their oath.
Judge Belinda Edwards (J.D. ’90) administered the oath for Fulton County Superior Court. She encouraged the recent graduates to remember the excitement they felt as they were getting sworn in to ensure a successful legal career.
“You should really be proud of yourselves given the many obstacles you faced and overcame in 2020,” said Edwards. “Not everyone can do what you do, and people will look to you for the answers because you have them. Remember that and remain excited that only you can do what you do.”
This year, Judge John A. “Trea” Pipkin (J.D. ’05) presided over the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia oath. Justice Shawn LaGrua (J.D. ’87) has often had that honor in the past but was still involved in the ceremony this year, offering words of wisdom as the first Georgia State Law alumna appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
“The important thing in this country is the role of law, and you are now part of making sure that we uphold that, respect it, honor it and cherish it,” LaGrua said.
The ceremony also included remarks from Dawn Jones (J.D. ’00), the first Georgia State Law alumna to server as president of the State Bar of Georgia. She encouraged the graduates to take active roles as they join the association of 52,000 lawyers.
View a complete list of graduates who participated in the ceremony below:
Amer Abukhdeir
Joshua Adams
Paul Allmon
Alexandra Bennett
Monteshea Barnes
Katherine Barton
Karla Bass
James Beal
Makeesha Bell
Taylor Bell
Scarlette Benton
Beth Boatright
Eugene Butler
David Carducci
Vivian Chew
Joseph Cissell
Shannon Coen
Andrew Coffey
Eli Cohen
Susan Conner
Alexander Cook-Green
Martha Correa-Jamison
Charles Cullen
Danielle Doctor
Anna Drake
Valentin Dubuis
Ansley Fantaski
Patrick Farnsworth
Abigail Fitts
Ariel Fuller
Mitchell Funk
Emily Gaston
Catherine Gavrilidis
Nicholas Gettys
Kristi Gibbs
Evelyn Graham
Daylan Greene
Joseph Guardino
William Hammond
G. Hoffman, Jr.
Ashley Houston
Sidong Hu
Katherine Hunt
Puja Jabbour
Damele'on Johnson
Emily Johnson
Jongwon Lee
Kady Litwer
Merima Mahmutbegovic
Ryan Malone
Michael Marable
Racquel McGee
Juliana Mesa
Gabriel Mobley
Thuy Ngan Nguyen
Kianne Nicholson
Terrance Pryor
Lindsay Roach
Zachary Sadowski
Richard Schaaf
Morgan Schroeder
Minho Seo
Laura Shoop
Justin Showalter
Simrampreet Sidhu
Jaime Steinhaus
Stephen Swanson
Kendra Talley
Zachary Trippe
Kenneth Varela
John Vaughan III
Tamra Voll
Peter Watson
Christopher Whitson Jr.
Glenith Williams
Tiffany Williams
Leah Woodward
Benjamin Young