2023 Centennial Achievement Masters Awards
During the fall of 1987, the Graduate College and the Division of Campus Life established awards to recognize outstanding achievement and contributions of graduate students at the University of Arizona who have shown academic achievement despite facing challenging social, economic, or educational obstacles. In years past, the award was presented to two students at the Master's level and two students at the Doctoral level. Beginning in 2018, due to the philanthropic commitment of past Master’s Award recipient, Dr. William Broussard (MA, ‘02, and Ph.D., ‘07—Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of the English Language) six graduate students were awarded the Centennial Awards. Through Dr. Broussard’s continued benevolence, starting in 2022 seven recipients will be selected and awarded the Centennial Award.
Molly Rose Case
Molly Rose Case is a third-year student and Atwood Scholar at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Originally from Sudbury, Massachusetts, Molly earned her undergraduate degree in economics from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After college Molly spent nearly ten years working in the nonprofit sector, primarily in the international water and sanitation context. Her first professional position brought her to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she worked with a small organization developing affordable ecological sanitation services for densely populated urban communities.
During the initial COVID lockdown Molly decided it was time for a new professional challenge; law school felt like the best match for her interests and abilities, and it offered an opportunity to find meaningful professional opportunities aligned with her values and commitment to service.
In law school, Molly has focused on developing strong legal research and writing skills, but what she loves most is working collaboratively with other members of the law school community. In addition to serving as a Classroom Writing Fellow supporting first-year legal writing students, Molly has been a Supreme Court Teaching Fellow, working with another law student to lead weekly discussion sessions for students in an undergraduate law course. She is currently serving as a Senior Writing Fellow and the Senior Articles Editor of Arizona Law Review, the law school’s flagship journal. Molly’s student Note, Status-Differentiated Access to Federal Habeas Relief for U.S. Citizens and Noncitizen Nationals Detained in American Samoa, will be published in the forthcoming Spring 2024 issue of Arizona Law Review. Molly also works as a research assistant for several professors and serves on the university’s Ombuds Committee, as well as the law school’s Curriculum Committee.
Molly is the recipient of the Barbara A. Atwood Scholarship. After law school she will spend a year clerking at the Arizona Supreme Court before pursuing further academic opportunities.
Abigael McGuire
Abigael McGuire is a JD candidate at the James E. Rogers College of Law. She is from Ephrata, a small town in eastern Washington State. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Management Information Systems from Washington State University. Before enrolling at the College of Law, Abigael worked at Boeing and Pinterest.
Abigael decided to attend law school after witnessing the power lawyers have to use legal rules, compassion, and empathy to advocate for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She is dedicated to doing the same for survivors in her own career. Abigael received a Centennial Achievement Award based on her demonstration of passion for serving survivors, and uplifting marginalized voices – especially those of women of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and low-income women and families.
As a student member of the Domestic Violence Law Clinic, Abigael provided direct legal services to survivors, including representation at hearings for orders of protection and advice on custody, child support, housing, and immigration issues. She has also been a dedicated student leader in Innovation for Justice, a program that designs, builds, and tests solutions to increase access to justice. Through Innovation for Justice, Abigael supports a project that advances alternative models of legal representation for domestic violence survivors. During her time as a law student, Abigael also wrote a significant research paper on the application of design thinking to domestic violence services. She has interned for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, as well as for the U.S. Senate and the Pima County Attorney’s Office. Abigael also served as the President of the Law Women’s Association at the College of Law.
After graduating from law school, Abigael will continue to use existing legal tools—and perhaps develop new ones—to advocate for, empower, and serve survivors.