Associate Clinical Professor Violeta Chapin was selected as the faculty recipient of the 2017-18 University of Colorado President’s Diversity Award. This annual award recognizes significant achievements of faculty, staff, students, and academic or administrative units in developing a culturally and intellectually diverse university community. Chapin will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony on April 20, 2018, at the CU System Administration office in Denver.
Chapin leads the Criminal and Immigration Defense Clinic at Colorado Law, which has turned its focus in the 2017-18 academic year to working primarily with undocumented college students enrolled at universities and community colleges across Colorado. Last fall, Chapin and her clinical students offered free renewal assistance workshops for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in Fort Collins, Greeley, and across Boulder County. The law school also raised approximately $34,000 from local donors to help defray the $495 fee charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for each renewal application submitted.
In May 2017, Chapin received Colorado Law’s Clifford Calhoun Public Service Award, along with Associate Professor Ming Chen, for her work with immigrants and CU’s international community in the wake of three immigration-oriented executive orders.
“In a time of uncertainty, legal upheaval, and fear, both Professors Chapin and Chen have worked with the university administration to educate our students and faculty on the ramifications of the orders, setting an example of how one’s work can advance the chancellor’s strategic imperative to shape tomorrow’s leaders and positively impact humanity,” said Dean S. James Anaya.
“Violeta’s responsiveness and commitment to service are both a beacon for those in need and a reminder to all of us of that our chosen profession need not be, in fact must not be, relegated to the ivory tower, but remains crucial to the greater community and—perhaps more poignantly—countless individuals, as we navigate our new future,” Anaya added.