AABANY SOC Co-Chair Dianna Lam Featured in Fordham Law News on Her Experience of Parenting while Attending Law School

On May 21, Dianna Lam, AABANY Student Outreach Committee (SOC) Co-Chair and Student Leader was featured in an article published in Fordham Law News. Writer Suzi Morales interviewed Fordham Law School evening students about the struggles of being a parent, working individual, and law student at the same time. In the interview, Dianna, mother of two boys, explained that prior to the pandemic, she would work and take care of her sons during the daytime while she would study during her lunch breaks and in the evening. As a result, Dianna explained that it was difficult for her sons to understand her work and her busy life. Now with remote learning in full swing, she has been able to involve herself in other extracurricular activities such as AABANY SOC and Fordham’s Evening Division Society. In the article, Dianna also noted that because of at-home learning she has also had much more time to spend with her sons who are an inspiration for her while she works. As Dianna joked, “Sometimes, when [my sons are] playing games with their friends, I hear them saying things that I would say to them, like, ‘In a meeting right now.’” To read the full article, click here.

Please join AABANY in congratulating Dianna on appearing in Fordham Law News. We appreciate all your hard work for AABANY, on top of everything else you need to get done!

To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, click here. To read more about AABANY’s Student Leaders click here.

In The News: Fordham Law News Spotlights AABANY’s Covid Rent Relief Program

On March 9, 2021, Fordham Law News published an article spotlighting the role that Fordham Law students have played in spearheading AABANY’s Covid Rent Relief Program. Olympia Moy ‘21 and Meng Zhang ’20 kickstarted AABANY’s volunteer effort last summer, after New York State launched a rent relief program to assist residents who had lost income due to the pandemic. Concerned about low-income Chinatown-area residents, many of whom did not speak English as their first language, Moy and Zhang worked with other AABANY law students and attorneys to hold a one-day rent assistance event. On July 26, the volunteers helped 125 pre-registrants and many walk-ins navigate the challenging application process. When the state’s rent relief program opened its second round of applications in the winter, AABANY volunteers teamed up again to disseminate the program information and invite applicants to contact AABANY’s hotline for assistance. Nicholas Loh ‘22 helped lead this two-week hotline effort, connecting over 85 callers with Chinese-speaking volunteers.

The article celebrated the recognition that these students and AABANY members have received from four New York state senators. At a Lunar New Year virtual celebration in February, Sen. Brian Kavanagh awarded AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee with a certificate of commendation for providing invaluable legal assistance to the AAPI community. Looking into the future, Moy states: “We students are going to continue to try to respond as long as there are further rollouts and extensions.” To learn more about the advocacy efforts of Moy and her fellow AABANY volunteers, click here.