2021-22 Ritter Scholars Named

The University of Virginia School of Law has named four students 2021-22 Ritter Scholars: Emily Hockett, Donna Faye Imadi, Trust Kupupika and Jeffrey Stiles.

Established by Willis Ritter ’65 in 1983 in honor of his parents, 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.

Emily Hockett is a Program in Law and Public Service fellow, a submissions review editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law and a research assistant for Professor Danielle Citron. She has also been vice president of Lambda Law Alliance, community outreach chair of the National Lawyers Guild chapter, a Legal Writing Fellow and a participant in the Civil Rights and First Amendment clinics.

Donna Faye Imadi is a Tri-Sector Leadership Fellow and a research assistant for Professor Camilo Sánchez. She served as 1L representative and vice president of Virginia Law Women, social chair of the J.B. Moore Society of International Law and news editor of the Virginia Law Weekly. This year, Imadi will participate in the International Human Rights Clinic and clerk for Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Moore ’80. After graduation, she will work at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Trust Kupupika serves as an editor on the Virginia Law Review, the Virginia Law & Business Review, and the Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal. She was a research assistant for Professor Andrew Block and worked on a project for the Governor’s Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in the Law. Kupupika has also been inclusivity, service and advocacy chair for Lambda Law Alliance and historian for the Black Law Students Association. After graduation, she will work at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, where she was a Richard Mintz Diversity Scholar as a summer associate.

Jeffrey Stiles serves on the Virginia Journal of International Law editorial board and is member of the Law Christian Fellowship and the Latin American Law Organization. He is also a Peer Advisor and Law School ambassador. This semester, he will work in a full-time externship with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. After graduation, he will work at Cozen O’Connor and clerk for U.S. Judge Chad Kenney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

“We are so proud to have all four of these students in our community,” said Sarah Davies ’91, assistant dean for student affairs. “They have been a positive influence, even during trying times, and they continually strive to enrich the lives of others.”