Drexel University’s Kline School of Law is one of just a handful of law schools in the country with a full-fledged undergraduate program that offers a bachelor’s degree in Law. Boasting a prime location in one of the country’s largest and most historic cities, the Undergraduate Law (UGLaw) program attracts a broad array of students from across the United States, with diverse backgrounds, and a multitude of ideas about why the study of law is worthwhile.

Each student’s undergraduate experience at Kline is unique. While students take a common set of required courses, each student gets to choose a second field of interest to them, and a set of electives to pursue their specific interests and deepen their knowledge of law in a particular area.

Beren Strawser (pictured in foreground wearing a white polo shirt) is from Honolulu, but his parents grew up in Philadelphia. This, along with the opportunity to study law right away, was a major reason he chose Drexel and Kline.

“I really like the city and have this personal connection. It feels like a second home,” said Strawser. “I knew that I wanted to go into law, and the primary appeal of the program is the hands-on experience it offers, beyond the classroom—co-ops, Law Lab, plus so many opportunities to network and build connections with attorneys. It’s great for meeting people and giving you exposure to the profession. UGLaw allows you to build the career you want.”

Strawser has some relatives who are lawyers and hearing stories about their work from a young age instilled in him an interest in, even a reverence for the profession.

“My aunt was involved with a legal aid organization, and I found that to be a noble cause. It planted in me the desire to help people who can’t help themselves, people on the fringes of society.”

During his eventful first semester, Strawser joined the nonprofit Sharing Excess and helped to deliver donated produce from the Philadelphia Wholesale Market to low-income residents.

Strawser’s relentlessly positive attitude has allowed him to seize on many of the opportunities Drexel Kline offers for personal growth and learning beyond the classroom.

“It’s valuable to meet as many people as you can, especially those who are older and wiser…. Being independent in college means being interdependent—appreciating camaraderie, appreciating different types of people.”

Anastasia Kavounov (left), a first-year UGLaw student from Toronto, came to Kline on a varsity tennis scholarship. Drexel wasn’t the only school that recruited her to play, but during an exploratory visit to the campus, she was smitten by the city (which she said reminds her of Toronto), the team (which she says is “very international”), and the fact that Drexel Kline, of all the schools vying for her athletic talent, was the only one with an undergraduate degree in law.

“Before Drexel, I was still figuring out what I wanted to do outside of tennis, which has consumed a good part of my life,” she said. “The undergrad Law major was perfect, in combination with the scholarship and my all-around positive feelings about the campus, the people—the whole deal.”

Given her immersion in sports and the seismic changes now sweeping through college athletics, Kavounov is interested in pursuing a career in sports law. “College sports has become a new, exciting landscape, which has pluses and minuses. You have to proactively find clients, far more than if you’re working at a law firm… Right now, it’s sort of the ‘wild west’ of the legal profession.”

The recent introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) rules are transforming college sports just as Kavounov is beginning her legal education. At Drexel Kline she has had multiple opportunities to explore this emerging, dynamic field.

One of the many events she attended this fall featured a prominent sports lawyer, an experience she called “incredibly eye-opening.” And for her LAW 101: Law & Society class she wrote a paper on NIL which gave her the chance to immerse herself in the topic and explore its implications far more deeply than she had expected.