When Bob Woodward delivered his lecture to a packed house at Foellinger Auditorium last night, Betsy Farrington (’16) was front and center. Farrington submitted the winning essay for The Lincoln Legacy Essay Competition, which was hosted in conjunction with Mr. Woodward’s lecture as part of the New Lincoln Lectures series. In addition to a $5,000 prize, Farrington was also granted a personal meeting with Mr. Woodward.
Of the opportunity, Farrington said, “I am thrilled about meeting Bob Woodward; I was first introduced to his work after September 11th - and his work on the War in Iraq - while I was a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and it stayed with me throughout my tour as a Platoon Commander in Baghdad; I hope to be able to speak with him about that phase of his career.”
Farrington has had quite a busy law school career. She has been both a teaching assistant and a research assistant, and she is a member of the Illinois Veteran’s Association. She is the current Managing Editor of the Illinois Law Review, and was a Trial Team member last year. She has also been a member of the Client Counseling Team since 2014.
Following graduation in the spring, Farrington will be clerking for a federal judge and then hopes to litigate. She is most interested in labor and employment litigation, but may also explore business and tort litigation during her first year of practice.
For the inaugural essay competition, students were asked to consider the legacy and continued relevance of Abraham Lincoln, arguably America’s greatest lawyer, to their study of law, decision to become a lawyer, or future career. Entrants could address any aspect of Lincoln’s legacy that has relevance to him/her as a law student and future lawyer. Students could also consider how Lincoln’s legacy informs how he/she thinks about the role of law, ethics, conflicts, and politics. Each of The New Lincoln Lectures will have a separate writing competition, each carrying a $5,000 prize for the winning College of Law student.
Read Betsy’s winning essay: “The Election of 1864: Lincoln’s Legacy of Resolve and Integrity.”
The New Lincoln Lectures: What Abraham Lincoln Means to the 21st Century – is a series of several lectures to be held in 2016 and 2017 in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and/or Springfield. The series was founded in commemoration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of President Lincoln’s death and then, two years later, of the founding of the University of Illinois. The lectures will feature luminaries in various fields related to law, government, and history, who will reflect on Lincoln’s legacy and its continuing relevance – both in their individual lives and the life of the nation – 150 years after his passing. The inaugural lecture in the series was delivered on January 26th, 2016, by legendary news reporter Bob Woodward.