| Janice Iwama, SPA
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Scholarship
Graduate Student at Home at SPA
BY ADRIENNE FRANK
Janice Iwama is the recipient of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Scholarship. The NOBLE Scholarship was established in 1992 by the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. This need-based scholarship in the School of Public Affairs supports a minority student enrolled in a degree program in the Department of Justice, Law and Society. |
A longtime resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Janice Iwama knew she didn’t want to stray far from home for college. The 21-year-old always had her sites set on American University.
“You can’t beat the location,” says Iwama, who’s interested in law and policing and who interned at the Department of Justice. “The FBI and the CIA are nearby, and going to school here, you really learn a lot about how the federal government works. There are so many opportunities that you wouldn’t have at another school.”
Iwama, who works as a senior administrative assistant at the Washington College of Law, graduated in summer 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in justice. She wasn’t done with her education, though, and immediately began working on a master’s degree in justice, law and society at the School of Public Affairs (SPA).
And next up, says Iwama, is law school.
“I’d like to work as a public defender, in the low-income areas of D.C. I grew up with a single mother, so I understand some of those issues. I know what it means to budget,” says Iwama.
At WCL, where she’s worked for several years, first as a work-study student and later as a part-time employee, Iwama is getting a taste of life as a lawyer. She helps students involved with the Criminal Justice Clinic, who spend one semester defending juvenile and criminal cases in Montgomery County and one semester prosecuting cases in Maryland. She also assists with other WCL clinics, which focus on domestic violence and tax issues.
“It’s interesting work,” she says, “and it’s great to be able to help people in our community.”
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