WASHINGTON— The National Bar Association hosted the 19th Annual Crump Law Camp for high school students at Howard University School of Law. The students were honored during a graduation and awards ceremony to complete their immersive experience and legal training under the guidance and mentorship of Howard Law School’s prestigious alumni and other expert legal professionals. The camp’s theme, Growing Lawyers, Building Character, echoed throughout the awards ceremony as staff, students, mentors, and parents gathered to reflect and celebrate the students’ journey.

“This is the 19^th year of the camp and the most important thing to us is our mission of growing lawyers and building character,” said John Crump, founder of the camp and former executive director of the National Bar Association. “Over a two-week period, students spend anywhere from 40 to 60 hours in classrooms preparing for the mock trial. Over the years, we’ve seen participants of the camp grow and it is a joy to watch participants go on to have successful careers in the law and other fields.”

Students traveled to Howard’s campus from different parts of the country to attend the camp, including 22 students from New York, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and New Jersey. Camp staff led a rigorous program that encouraged discipline inside and outside the classroom.

“We work very hard with these young people from morning until night,” said Kwasi Bonsu, camp staff and two-time alumnus of Howard University. “From public speaking to confidence training and the actual law, we try to build the whole person. Students were up at 5:30 a.m. to begin the day with yoga and exercise. Then we start with instruction on the history of African people and the law as well as civil and criminal law. We train them to introduce themselves, engage in public speaking and we coach them on their body language.”

While the camp is demanding by design, each day included opportunities for students to build connections and take full advantage of their stay in the District of Columbia. Most days of instruction and mock trial preparation were followed by a field trip. Students visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and King’s Dominion amusement park. They also got a sense of the diverse professional opportunities available to them as aspiring lawyers during their visits to the offices of Microsoft and Groom Law Group.

“It was a pleasure working with these young people,” said Bonsu. “Pipeline programs are very important and it’s critical that we be intentional about creating diversity in the legal profession.”

The capstone of the law camp is the Evett L. Simmons Mock Trial Competition. Each student had a chance to present arguments during the mock trial, which was based loosely on the police-involved and untimely death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Students brought with them a passion for social justice. During the mock trial, they combined that passion with the legal training they received over the several days of the camp to argue both sides of the case.

“These students come from being a blank slate to being able to litigate a full case in about four days of class instruction time,” said Clay Cauley, chair of the Social Services Group for the City of Philadelphia and alumnus of Howard Law, who supervised the mock trial portion of the program. “A lot of students are engaged in social issues and are very familiar with high-profile cases, but maybe not the intimacy of it. In the mock trial, they examined the fact pattern of an instance where two young friends who happen to fit the description of a nearby robbery, were stopped by police and as a result, one of the young people ends up shot by police.”

The students examined the fact pattern and worked to argue aspects of the case. They wrestled with the facts to argue whether or not the killing is justified and if it is a matter of self-defense. They took a deep dive into the facts of the case, including things like the race, gender, size and weight of the young people as opposed to the officer.  

“The idea, like most competitions, is that students who hit bench marks like eye contact or engaging jurors and judges progress through each round,” said Cauley. “We end up with four finalists and one person is the ultimate winner. I don’t know of anything quite like it.”

The mock trial competition was judged by staff, administrators, corporate sponsors, and former alumni of the camp. In the end, four winners of the mock trial competition were announced. New Jersey student Ayanna Flowers won the 1^st place prize of $200 and was named most likely to become a defense attorney.

“In the beginning, it was nerve wracking,” said Flowers. “When we found out we were going to perform a mock trial, we had to prepare and it’s a lot of going back and forth. But in the end, it was really fun. Everyone in the camp is good and they know what they’re talking about. They were difficult to compete against and all really strong. I’m really proud of myself. It was a good experience and I definitely recommend it to other students.”

Troi Prophet, a student from Maryland, won the 2^nd place prize of $100, while Brooke Thompson of Texas, and Clay Cauley Jr. of Delaware, tied for third place with a $50 prize.

“We are very proud of the students,” said Valarie Bell, director of the law camp. “They worked hard and we watched them grow so much over the past 10 days. It is a great privilege and the highlight of my summer to spend time working with these young people. I look forward to having each of the students back in the future and encourage them to take what they’ve learned here this summer and apply it to whatever career path they choose to pursue.” 

The 2019 Annual Crump Law Camp is sponsored by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Ford Motor Company Fund, Evette Simmons Foundation, Inc., The National Bar Institute, AT&T, Groom Law Group, The District of Columbia Bar, Microsoft, Navy JAG, and Parks Law, LLC.

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(Featured image: 2019 Annual Crump Law Camp participants and workshop leaders - source Howard University.)

About National Bar Association Crump Law Camp

The National Bar Association Crump Law Camp was established to provide students entering the 9th through 11th grades (ages 14 to 17) with an introduction to the American judicial system. Three other national minority bars—the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Native American Bar Association and the National Asian Pacific Bar Association have generously given their support to the camp as well. By providing incentive, motivation and direction to aspiring law students of color, the National Bar Association Crump Law Camp helps prepare the nation’s future lawyers, judges and protectors of the judicial system. The inaugural two-week camp was held during the summer of 2001 at Howard University School of Law supported by a grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund.

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Misha Cornelius, misha.cornelius@howard.edu