P.A.D. Spotlight
The P.A.D. Spotlight features an exceptional member, alumnus, achievement or event, weekly. The P.A.D. community is so accomplished that peer recognition is well deserved.
Phi Alpha Delta members are encouraged to submit feature recommendations. Fellow P.A.D. members are eager to hear about the great things everyone is doing and what they have accomplished. Not only does it show the Executive Office what you can do, but it provides International recognition for a Chapter, person or event.
We hope this spotlight will give the P.A.D. community the opportunity to further bond by creating discussions and attending fellow Chapter events, among many other things.
To submit recommendations, please email cory@pad.org.
We look forward to hearing about all of your amazing achievements!
May 15, 2012
Spotlight on Elizabeth Ricci (Fleming): Helping Others Live the American Dream
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website states, “America values the contributions of immigrants who continue to enrich this country and preserve its legacy as a land of freedom and opportunity.” Yet despite this declaration of appreciation, individuals like P.A.D. Fleming Chapter alumna Elizabeth Ricci are a necessary factor in the fair administration of immigration bureaucracy.
Elizabeth Ricci practices alongside her husband, Neil Rambana, at Rambana & Ricci, PLLC, an immigration law practice. With her immigration law background, Ricci has been able to represent members of the U.S. Armed Forces who found difficulty in gaining citizenship status. In a Tallahassee Democrat article written by Dave Hodges, Ricci is quoted in regard to two U.S. Army veterans who “were victims of a bureaucracy that didn’t mind taking advantage of them for their military service, but when it came to their citizenship there was no reciprocity.”
Ricci is also a staunch supporter of equal immigration rights for homosexual couples as well as heterosexual couples. On the Rambana & Ricci, PLLC website profile, her publication list includes articles like “Will Binational Same-Sex Couples Get Justice?” an Op-Ed piece in the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review’s July-August, 2011 Edition.
P.A.D. is proud to have a sister like Elizabeth Ricci whose professional success is matched by her volunteerism. In March 2012, Ricci was named one of the “25 Women You Need to Know” by the Tallahassee Democrat, not only for her professional work but for her service within the Tallahassee community. Her dedication to her community can be seen both locally and internationally as she has served in Guatemala while in the United States Peace Corps.
Ricci is an example of P.A.D.’s core values coming to life both in the legal profession and the community.
May 1, 2012 - Spotlight on 99 Years of Public Service
The October 21, 2009 initiation of Judge George N. Leighton into the P.A.D. Chicago Alumni Chapter honored not only this new brother but the fraternity itself. Only a day away from his ninety-seventh birthday, Judge Leighton’s 
initiation recognized a life that exemplified P.A.D.’s purpose: a lifetime of honorable professional and public service.
On the website for Neal & Leroy, LLC, a Chicago-based law firm, Judge Leighton is described to be an “attorney, retired judge, civil rights advocate and legal legend.” Very few have such a distinguished resume. He became associated with Neal & Leroy, LLC in 1987 after a lengthy career as a judge on the state and federal benches.
Few perhaps could have predicted Leighton’s legal career; in seventh grade he quit school to work on an oil tanker. However, he pursued an education unconventionally and managed to attend Howard University without graduating high school. By 1946 at the age of thirty-four, he obtained a law degree from Harvard Law School with the rank of captain in the U.S. Army, which he earned during World War II.
In 1946, the Boswell Amendment was ratified to the Alabama State Constitution in an attempt to inhibit prospective African-American voters. The amendment required prospective voters to be able to explain and expound on any part of the U.S. Constitution. As counsel for ten African-American citizens suing the state of Alabama, Leighton was able to help declare the Boswell Amendment unconstitutional.
According to the Neal & Leroy, LLC website, Leighton was accused of “conspiracy to incite a riot and lower property values” due to his representation of an African-American family that was being hindered from moving into an all-white neighborhood in 1951. It was the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, who represented and cleared Leighton of his indictment.
There are innumerous examples of his achievements. It is those like Judge Leighton who exemplify the ideals of the Fraternity and legal profession; for many, they are modern day’s version of knights in shining armor.
April 24, 2012 - Spotlight on P.A.D.'s Treasured History
Phi Alpha Delta has a somewhat parallel relationship with the historical progression of the United States. P.A.D.’s close association with this history has ultimately led to its present character.
War has previously been a threat to the fraternity’s stability. However, fraternal bonding around the common interest of law allowed its brothers and sisters to answer the cries of war’s victims and return to more peaceable pursuits. 
World War I left P.A.D. with depleted roll calls and treasuries, but President Warren G. Harding’s 1921 initiation marked the recovery felt by both the U.S. and the fraternity. Even the varied styles of The Reporter have reflected the happenings of the nation as the fraternity participated in wartime conservation efforts.
Additionally, national social movements nurtured the progressive nature of the legal profession and P.A.D. Without the right to vote, a group of dedicated women in 1911 created Phi Delta Delta, a legal fraternity which would witness the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the admittance of women to all law schools. The sisters of Phi Delta Delta observed and contributed to the infusion of women into the legal profession and P.A.D. recognized it with a merger in 1972.
The merger was humorously described in a poem written by two members of Phi Delta Delta and titled “Resume of Past Events.” Marriage was utilized as an allegory for the monumental merger, and the groundbreaking consequences of the newfound unity were entertainingly simplified by asking “…are we brothers, or sisters, or actually ‘bristers’? Is it a fraternity, a sorority, or just a ‘fratority’?”
P.A.D. has exemplified the progression of U.S. international policy as well. The President of the Republic of Mexico, Miguel Alemán Valdes, was the first international member of P.A.D. Not only a noteworthy occasion in P.A.D.’s history, this initiation began the trend of fraternal international expansion culminating in the first chapter chartered outside the United States in 1969.
Since its formal establishment in 1902, P.A.D. has thus monumentally progressed to surpass the needs of its brothers and sisters along with the public they serve.
April 17, 2012 - Spotlight on P.A.D. Social Networking
P.A.D. Chapters keep members up to date via Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, websites and blogs. Not only is internet-based communication useful to inform current Chapter members, but also to inform your Chapter’s alumni. It is important to keep the P.A.D. community updated to continue to grow and establish the professional network.
Here are a few tips to promote communication and a positive Chapter image:
Facebook: Setting up and maintaining a Chapter page can be very simple; it is also an efficient way to stay in touch with your members, as many of them are likely to have established accounts.
- Keep your page up to date and post as frequently as you can.
- Post upcoming events, meetings, pictures of recent gatherings, information about joining and Chapter accomplishments.
- Personalize your page. Make it obvious that you are a P.A.D. Chapter at your school! Detail your Chapter accomplishments in the ‘About’ Section.
A great example is the University of Florida’s Pre-Law Chapter page.
Blog: Setting up a blog can be just as simple as a Facebook page but with more room for content and layout creativity.
- Separate your blog into sections for easy navigation: Meet the officers, news, events/ calendar, programming, etc.
- Link to external sources: pre-law academic articles, tips, etc.
- Post regularly! Whether it be weekly, or bi-weekly, keeping the information up to date is key for successful internet communication
- *Suggested blog site: use www.wordpress.com for quick and free set-up.
A great example is the Pre-Law Chapter at the University of Kansas.
Although these are only two examples, they are great ways to have consistent, effective communication with your members. If you decide to create any form of internet-based communication, remember to consult the P.A.D. Social Networking Policy, and share your links with us via email to info@pad.org.
April 10, 2012 - Spotlight on Ken Sibanda (Cahn Chapter)
Ken Sibanda, alumnus of Cahn Chapter at the University of D.C., is an accomplished author and director of science fiction novels and screenplays. Born in South Africa, Sinbanda’s work reflects inspiration from his personal life, education and home country.
He is to direct Species Venus, a prequel to the film Vindicator, based on his written short story and screenplay; the film tells the story of an alien species arriving on earth in 2084 in need of biological help to preserve their species. He is also working on his forthcoming feature film Hannibal the Great, based on the historic rise and fall of the famed Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca, the general who invaded Rome.
Not only has he been successful in his directing endeavors, but is most known for his novel The Return to Gibraltar, in which the main character, Horace Bates, travels back in time to 1491 to help the Moors of Spain against advancing Christian campaigns.
“I wrote the book with the intention that it would one day be a movie and throughout the book I could see Will Smith playing Horace Bates,” said Sibanda.
His work has been reviewed in Spain, South Africa, the U.S. and Gibraltar, and his novel is available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. Although Sibanda has followed an alternative route from his legal education, he says, “[Being a lawyer] really helps because in the film industry you have to know how to protect creative content.”
