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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law School at Pace University honored outstanding members of the Class of 2022, as well as distinguished faculty and staff on Friday, May 13 at Mansion on Broadway, a stately and historic venue in White Plains, New York. The evening was enjoyed by students, families, friends, staff, and faculty who came together to celebrate the accomplishments of the awardees.

The Haub Law Student Bar Association created five award categories based on important values of the law school. These categories included the Brightest Light Award, the Co-Counsel Award, the Community Award, the Underdog Award, and the annual Adolph Homburger Humanitarian Award. Students were nominated by their peers to receive these significant awards and the recipients were ultimately selected by a class-wide vote. Additionally, the Dean’s Award – personally selected by Dean Horace Anderson – was presented at Commencement.

The awards ceremony also recognized outstanding faculty and staff with the distinguished Barbara C. Salken Outstanding Professor of the Year Award and the Award for Outstanding Staff Member or Department. These award recipients were also selected by a vote of the graduating class and honored for their impact on students and their overall contributions to the law school.

Class Of 2022 Student Awards

Dean's Award

Madison Renee Shaff

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law Dean’s Award is presented to a graduating student in the full and/or part-time program who best demonstrates academic excellence, leadership, and service to the law school and community.

Madison (Maddie) Shaff was selected for the Dean’s Award because of her exemplary student leadership during her time at Haub Law, demonstrating outstanding commitment to academic excellence, public service, community spirit, diversity, equity, and inclusion. As President of the Law School’s Student Bar Association, Maddie has been a champion of creating community at the law school, spearheading many programs and initiatives, and raising awareness of important social issues that impact students and the broader legal community.

Adolf Homburger Humanitarian Award

Madison Renee Shaff

The Adolf Homburger Humanitarian award winner is chosen by the graduating class in memory of the late Adolf Homburger. He was a teacher, advisor, and scholar and he exemplified the ideals he attempted to impart: commitment and character: spirit and patience, warmth and modesty and devotion to careful scholarship.

Madison (Maddie) Shaff was selected by her peers because of her dedication to the law school community, creating programming and opportunities for all members of the community to be included and heard.

Brightest Light Award

Yasmin Noora Laskar

The Brightest Light Award honors a student who is consistently a “bright light” for their peers. Filled with positivity and joy, this student always inspires their peers to be happy.

Yasmin Laskar was selected by her peers for her kindness and warm-hearted personality with the student body. She is described by peers as a nurturing role model who always has encouraging words. An example of her inspirational leadership was displayed in her curated weekly morning mindset walks for residents, which focused on building a supportive community while promoting mental health.

The Co-Counsel Award

Krittika B. Shah

The Co-Counsel Award honors a student who is a true partner, a person you can depend on to review your legal research, give feedback on your cross-examination and lean on when faced with challenges. This student always has your back and best interest in mind.

Krittika (Kye) Shah was selected because of her loyalty and support to her friends and peers, and her strong work ethic. She is described by peers as always being a resourceful team player when working on projects.

The Community Award

Michael Andrew Pabon Jr.

The Community Award honors a student who is passionate about public service and goes above and beyond to put their community first.

Michael (Mikey) Pabon was selected because of his active involvement in campus life, leadership in mentoring peers while remaining studious, and his enthusiasm to help whenever needed.

The Underdog Award

Michael Robert Thompson

The Underdog Award honors a student who demonstrates incredible grit and determination at every opportunity and who is always fighting to be the highest version of themself, despite the obstacles that are thrown in their way.

Michael Thompson was selected because of his strength and determination when faced with extreme adversity. Michael is a wonderful friend dedicated to community service through his work at the Pace Health Law Clinic. Michael bravely overcame challenges to become a successful and passionate law student and has provided inspiration for his classmates along the way.

Faculty and Staff Awards

Barbara C. Salken Outstanding Professor Of The Year Award

Professor Bridget J. Crawford
Adjunct Professor Jared Hatcliffe

The Barbara C. Salken Outstanding Professor of the Year Award honors a professor(s) who displays incredible commitment and character to their students and has a keen interest in current events in the law and society.

Professor Bridget J. Crawford received the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award for the 8th time! She teaches Federal Income Taxation; Estate and Gift Taxation; and Wills, Trusts and Estates. Her students describe her a passionate and enthusiastic professor who is a skilled educator, committed to law students and future lawyers. She is always available and willing to help any student and is a mentor to many students.

Professor Jared Hatcliffe teaches Trial Advocacy and Motion Practice at Haub Law. His students say he demonstrates true compassion for all students, not only in the classroom, but in life. He is dedicated, passionate and always available for students to practice mock trials, make sure they understand the material, and advise them on internship and job opportunities.

Award For Outstanding Staff Member Or Department

Dining Hall

The Award for Outstanding Staff Member or Department honors staff who have been active in supporting the student body and who were effective in problem solving unexpected challenges, always providing top-notch customer service and care.

The staff of Chartwells Dining Hall was selected as a result of how they serve and support the student body. For many students, they provided a friendly face on campus, a listening ear when needed most, and took special care to ensure students had access to delicious food, providing the comfort of home that was so often needed.

See Photos from the Ceremony

An avid long-distance runner, Professor Katrina Kuh has loved the outdoors since she was a child. This passion for the outdoors turned into a passion for the environment, which led Professor Kuh to pursue her JD, and ultimately, a career in environmental law. Professor Kuh joined Haub Law in 2017 and is currently the Haub Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law and serves as the Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Hack Competition. She teaches Administrative Law, Environmental Survey, Climate Change Law, International Environmental Law, and Torts. Learn about Professor Kuh’s background, her thoughts on traveling, climate anxiety, and more in this candid Q+A.

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How did you become interested in environmental law and climate change law?

My parents always loved the outdoors. We were often tight on money and camping felt like getting something for nothing. Coupled with the fact that I’m a long-distance runner, I spent a lot of time outside. I spent two summers living and working in Boulder, CO just so I could run there. The single biggest predictor of whether a person will care about environmental issues is whether the person spent time in nature as a child with a trusted adult and that was something we did together often as a family.

In terms of climate change, I wasn’t a visionary. In law school, we all had to satisfy a writing requirement to graduate. My good friend wrote a paper on possibly being able to sue large GHG emitters under nuisance. It was ultimately cited by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Connecticut v. EPA. He was a visionary! I only really started to focus on climate change after I started teaching at Hofstra Law School in 2007. They let me develop a seminar and I created a course on climate change law. Every time I teach climate change law, I think that the next time that I teach it, there will surely be a new federal statute focused specifically at GHG reduction, but, alas, I’m still waiting. As a professor, I really love teaching the class. Every time you teach the class you have to rework it because it is constantly changing and evolving.

It’s important to think about worrying that’s productive versus unproductive. The best antidote, for me, is feeling like you’re trying to do something. Working on climate mitigation eases my climate anxiety.

What are some of your other projects you are working on?

I just had an article published in the Marquette Law Review, Informational Regulation, the Environment, and the Public, contributed to a report, Legal Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation. I’m working on a couple of new writing projects as well. I’m working on a law review article with a professor from another school that explores eco-necro tourism, or “last chance” tourism, from a legal perspective. I have previously touched on these issues in a blog post “How to Travel Responsibly in an Era of Climate Change.”

I’m also writing a book chapter focused on environmental aspects of the constitution with James May, a Pace alumnus and visiting scholar, and editing a book based on a project by the Environmental Law Collaborative, Adapting to a 4 C World.

Earlier this year, a book of which I am a co-author came out - “Climate Change Law: An Introduction.” I wrote this with fellow Haub Law Professors Karl S. Coplan, Shelby D. Green, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Smita Narula, Karl R. Rábago (former professor), and Radina Valova. There are many policy makers who don’t have a JD who are finding themselves working on climate policy issues. Even those who do have a JD may not have taken a course specific to climate policy. This book is a punchy, straight to the point introduction to climate change. We wanted to come together to provide an onramp to climate policy in the US. The goal is to define terms, but also get the readers quickly to the legal questions and debates. I will be using it as one of the texts for the Climate Law class at Haub Law moving forward. I even did a Q&A on the book when it came out to go over the basics of it!

At Haub Law you are the Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Hack Competition - can you talk a bit about that?

Yes, we just announced the problem for the next competition, which invites students to propose a private environmental governance initiative. The goal in selecting and drafting the problem is to find an emerging environmental issue that could benefit from a new perspective and is manageable for students to address in a meaningful way in the competition timeframe. We like encouraging interdisciplinary teams and want to encourage students to think about intersections between law and policy.

How do you deal with Climate Anxiety?

I’m a worrier by nature and I struggle with this. I was talking with my kids at dinner and said, jokingly, marry whomever you want, just make sure they’re Canadian, so you can get a Canadian passport. My daughter was sobbing the next morning because she felt it was too much pressure to marry someone Canadian. It’s important to think about worrying that’s productive versus unproductive. The best antidote, for me, is feeling like you’re trying to do something. Working on climate mitigation eases my climate anxiety.

How do you approach travel?

When I travel with my family, I prioritize taking them to special places that will be significantly altered in their lifetimes. We’ve been to the Everglades, Venice, Glacier National Park, glacier skiing in Europe, and to the Galapagos. Over Christmas, I wanted to take my kids to Grande Isle in my birth state - Louisiana. However, due to Hurricane Ida, they’re were not allowing non-residents.