School of Law Student Elected to National Board

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Viet Tran, a second-year student at the University of Arkansas School of Law, was elected to the national board of the National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association while attending the organization's conference in Las Vegas Nov. 15-18. Tran, a native of Orlando, Fla., will serve as the southwest regional director.

In his new role, Tran will be responsible for maintaining relations among the chapters in his region, which includes Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. He will assist law schools in forming new chapters and organize the region's recruitment and networking conference, which draws law firms from each of the eight states.

"This is a great opportunity for Viet and for the University of Arkansas' APALSA chapter," said Angie Doss, visiting assistant professor of law and faculty adviser to the student association. "Viet is serving in a national leadership role, and his hard work will help our chapter and our school gain recognition from other chapters around the country."

This is the first year the local APALSA chapter has been affiliated with the national organization. Doss said the students have been working hard this semester to establish the chapter as a working organization. The chapter helps sponsor the School of Law's multicultural barbecue each semester and promotes the Law School to other campus organizations, including the Chinese Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association. They also inspired the Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to organize an APALSA chapter and have been helping their peers get started.

Tran, who serves as the local chapter's president, has set up a blog for others to view pictures from the convention, as well as learn and converse about APALSA issues. The blog address is http://www.apalsauark.wordpress.com.

NAPALSA is the first and only national Asian Pacific American law organization of its kind. The organization's mission is to provide and facilitate a network of law students and attorneys nationwide and to advance the interest of all Asian Pacific Americans.