Second Annual Juris Sodalitas/Mississippi Bar Reception Set for July 13

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Juris Sodalitas, the Law fellowship of The University of Southern Mississippi, will host its Second Annual Reception July 13 at the Mississippi Bar Association Convention in Sandestin, Fla. All Southern Miss alumni are invited to attend.

“We are very excited about getting together with our alums and friends of the University,” said Jim Warren, Board Chairman for Juris. “We had a tremendous response to the reception last year. Chief Justice Jim Smith was given our first annual award as the Jurist of the Year. We are blessed to have so many Southern Miss alums who are now serving as Judges, District Attorneys, and in other public offices.”

Juris Sodalitas was first conceived by the late Elliot Pood in 2005, then Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Southern Miss. “Dean Pood had a vision of connecting our undergraduate alums, now successful lawyers, back to Southern Miss,” said College of Arts and Letters Development Officer Mike McAlpin. “He wanted to provide social and educational opportunities to Juris members as well as to look for ways for our alums to contribute back to the college and Southern Miss.”

This vision has expanded under the leadership of interim College of Arts and Letters Dean Denise von Herrmann.

“Following Dr. Pood’s death we wanted to take his ideas for Juris Sodalitas and expand them to enrich the University and the organization,” von Herrmann said. “We have undertaken a much more aggressive schedule for CLE’s this year and the Juris board has adopted a Southern Miss Presidential Scholarship as its goal for the College. We are very excited to kick off our new year in Juris beginning with a reception at the Mississippi Bar meeting. All of our alums and friends of the University are invited.”

The reception will take place on July 13 from 5-6 p.m. at the Sandestin Beach Hilton.