Release date: May 16, 2005
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark, Assistant Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Emory Law Student's Dedication to Service Nets University's Highest Honor

For most students, just making it through law school is enough of an accomplishment, but for Emory University School of Law graduate Bharath Parthasarathy his time at Emory also was a fresh opportunity for service. While balancing the demands of his studies, he worked on numerous initiatives across the university to make a difference in his community.

Whether it was through pro bono legal work, two terms as a Student Government Association representative, or in his weekly student newspaper column that regularly pushed students to become more involved in advocating for change, Parthasarathy tirelessly worked the past three years to make a difference. Described as a "model of the engaged student-scholar," his achievements earned him the university's highest student honor, the Marion Luther Brittain Award, given to a member of the graduating class in recognition of his or her service to the university. Parthasarathy received the award during commencement exercises May 16.

"More so than any student I have met, Bharath is tirelessly committed to making Emory University a better school and a better place to live and learn," says Emory law professor Michael Kang. "Bharath has been involved with nearly every student initiative to improve the law school. He is one of those people who makes his surroundings a better place by force of his personality and hard work. Emory is lucky to have him here and we're sad to see him leave."

After graduating with honors and highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002, Parthasarathy entered Emory's law school and immediately sought ways to become involved.

"I didn't want to be defined as just a law student, and I wanted to make the most of my time here," Parthasarathy says. "It's a privilege to be in law school and in higher education in general. With that privilege comes great responsibility and an obligation to serve others. I don't think my involvement is all that exceptional. I've just done the right thing. I wish every student would find a cause or two and devote themselves to it."

Parthasarathy said he is overwhelmed by the Brittain Award honor. "I am incredibly humbled by being selected for the Brittain Award. Hopefully this will encourage more graduate students to take advantage of the incredible opportunities and resources available at Emory to better their academic and social communities," he says.

As a first-year law student, he volunteered as a caseworker for Student Legal Services and worked as a research assistant helping a law professor in his work with Common Cause of Georgia. With that project, he worked to improve the governmental ethics laws in Georgia by researching models for ethics legislation and drafting memoranda with recommendations for action. The professor who supervised these activities wrote that

"as with many of his activities, the ethics project allowed Bharath to combine his legal acumen and his passion for public service."

Parthasarathy continued to serve the law school and its students during his next two years of law school as a student interviewer for faculty candidates applying for positions at the school and as a member of the Class of 2005 gift committee. In addition, Parthsarathy took the unusual step - for a law student - of twice representing the School of Law as a Student Government Association legislator.

His involvement with SGA led Parthasarathy to share his talents with the larger Emory community. He served as executive counsel to SGA and was the only graduate student on the SGA's executive board. One particularly notable accomplishment while working with the SGA was his work with the Emory Pact, a proposed financial aid program that would allow highly qualified students from low-income households to enroll and graduate from Emory debt-free. Parthasarathy says he will continue to support and work on the proposal even after he graduates.

In addition, Bharath completed a human rights field placement internship at The Carter Center and served as the graduate student representative on the university's commencement speaker advisory committee. He also founded a student organization, the Emory Law Young Democrats, and assisted the Georgia General Assembly House Democratic Caucus during the 2005 Session by drafting the Daily Legislative Briefing for its members. He plans on remaining active in Democratic party politics in the coming years.

He also found time to write a regular column for the Emory Wheel, the university's student newspaper that addressed topics ranging from unemployment to education to national politics. One of his nominators noted that "in the highest traditions of journalism, Bharath chose significant and controversial issues, provided accurate factual background, and then explained his opinion in clear and persuasive language."

Parthasarathy will join the Atlanta law firm of Alston & Bird LLP, working in the area of health care compliance and regulatory matters. He is the son of Dr. Sampath Parthasarathy and Kalyani Parthasarathy of New Orleans (70006), and is a graduate of Dunwoody High School.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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