Community Building Third-Year Gina George Takes Helm of Student Bar Association

When Gina George started her first year at Roger Williams University School of Law, her family worried about her. She earned her undergraduate degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, not far from her hometown of Uniondale, New York. She was moving to a new town where she didn’t know anyone, to start her first year of law school, an experience that can be not only challenging but also isolating.

“My family was worried that it’d be hard for me in the new state, all alone,” she recalls.

Turns out, they didn’t need to worry.

Multi-faceted leader

George jumped right into the RWU Law community. During her first two years, she was a leader of a range of organizations. She was a 1L representative, and later secretary of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and a Student Ambassador, who works with the Office of Admissions to share their experiences with new and prospective students. She was also a co-captain of the Quahogs softball team this year, which competes with other law school teams from around the country.

In 2023, George received one of two Law Alumni Association scholarships. In the spring of 2024, she added the title of Student Bar Association President to her impressive resume. 

And just as George embraced RWU Law, the RWU Law community embraced her. One of her earliest experiences was on a weekend apartment hunting visit with her mother. A chance conversation with Professor Tara Allen that weekend led to an ongoing mentoring relationship between George and Allen, who was recently named the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

“I bumped into her and since then she’s been a mentor to me, helping and guiding me through law school. I really appreciate her for that,” George recalls. Through Allen, she came to know of and later became active in BLSA.

Planning for the future

Like her mentor, George plans to work in criminal defense after law school. Her interest in the subject began in her undergraduate criminal justice program, when she learned about the Innocence Project, which represented an individual who had been exonerated after decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. “I thought that I could be the person who could stop it before it gets to the point of anyone having to serve a long time of their life that they’ve missed with family and friends,” she says. “That’s why I chose public defense.”

During the summer of 2024, George interned for the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office in Dayton, Ohio. She worked with juvenile clients and appreciated the efforts that the office put into client mental health. “They’re actually getting [children] into the programs they need to better themselves before they become an adult,” she says. “I like that there’s that intervention that is not just discipline, but rehabilitation.”

Not surprisingly, George’s vision for her term as SBA president includes community building. She wants to facilitate more interaction between law students and the rest of the university. She would like to host events that bring law students together with undergraduates and other graduate students. “We’re part of this bigger campus,” she notes. And with her in the lead, even more students will feel they belong in that community.