2019-20 Ritter Scholars Named

The University of Virginia School of Law has named four students as 2019-20 Ritter Scholars: Molly Cain, Manal Cheema, Eleanora Kaloyeropoulou and Read Mills.

Each year, the Mary Claiborne and Roy H. Ritter Prizes recognize third-year students who best exemplify the qualities of honor, character and integrity envisioned by Thomas Jefferson when he founded UVA. The honorees — selected based on nominations from students, faculty, staff and alumni — receive a tuition award.

Molly Cain is co-director of the Peer Advisor Program and co-president of the UVA Law chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a member of the Raven Society, and vice president of communications and a quarterfinalist for the William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition. The Karsh-Dillard Scholar was a student advocate with the Civil Rights Clinic and vice president of voter protection for Virginia Law Democrats. She has interned with the ACLU of Virginia and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. After graduation, she will clerk for U.S. Judge Carlton W. Reeves ’89 of the Southern District of Mississippi.

Manal Cheema is the president of Virginia Law Women, a submission review editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law, and on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. She served as a Peer Advisor and on the boards of the Program in Law and Public Service. The Virginia Public Service Scholar is a Monroe Leigh Fellow, a Salzburg Cutler Fellow and a member of the Raven Society. She is also involved with the Prosecution Clinic. After graduation, Cheema will clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Armed Forces in Washington, D.C., and then will enter active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps.

Eleanora Kaloyeropoulou is a member of the Virginia Law Review and a Tri-Sector Leadership Fellow. Last year, she was the president of Lambda Law Alliance and a Peer Advisor. She has worked as a research assistant to Professor George Geis and will be a teaching assistant to Professor Jason Johnston this year. She worked as a summer associate for Jones Day in Pittsburgh for the past two summers.   

Read Mills is a William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition quarterfinalist and winner of the Bracewell Oral Advocacy Award. Mills, a Legal Writing Fellow, is also a Virginia Law & Business Review editorial board member, Student Bar Association senator, participant in the Appellate Litigation Clinic and a Peer Advisor. He worked as a summer associate for King & Spalding in Washington, D.C.

“These four recipients are all students who have given so much of themselves to support their fellow students,” said Sarah Davies ’91, assistant dean for student affairs. “They are community builders, and they conduct themselves with honor and integrity in their daily interactions in the Law School community. I think Mr. Ritter would have been proud to know these students received the award he established.”