Kim Kaelin and Alexander Perry have received Drexel University’s Outstanding Graduate Student Civic Engagement Award for 2018. 

Kaelin was a Drexel Community Scholar, working in partnership with the Philadelphia Futures nonprofit that serves low-income high school students who would be the first in their families to attend college.

Working with 15 students twice each week, Kaelin mentored them on a mock trial case, taught them about aspects of the litigation process and helped nurture skills in public speaking, creative thinking and teamwork. The students performed their mock trial this year at the Kline Institute for Trial Advocacy over which Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper, president judge of the Court of Common Pleas, presided.

Perry, who was a public school teacher before enrolling at Kline, is being recognized for the ongoing commitment to service he demonstrated during his first year of law school. He served as an adviser with Drexel’s Lindy Scholars program, which provides after-school tutoring and mentoring to students in West Philadelphia.

In the fall, Perry will enroll in the law school’s Community Lawyering Clinic, which will provide him with additional opportunities to serve Philadelphians who need committed advocates.

The pair were the only graduate students to receive the University’s civil engagement award this year.