3/20/08
Granddaughter of Manning couple reaching great heights at ISU
By Cathy Gilbert

Submitted Photo

Brionni McGriff is paving her way to a brilliant legal career at Iowa State University. McGriff is the granddaughter of John and Bessie McGriff of Manning.

Brionni McGriff has known she wanted to be a lawyer for some time. The summer she spent at Northwestern University’s School of Law did nothing to change her mind.

McGriff is the granddaughter of Manning natives John and Bessie McGriff and the daughter of John and Dianne McGriff of Atlanta.

As one of four recipients of a summer fellowship from the American Bar Foundation, McGriff participated in the program held at the prestigious Chicago university in 2007. The two-month program allowed the participants meet with both judges and law firms to “see different experiences we would have as a lawyer.”

McGriff helped with clinic work with young families, giving her an intersection between the law and sociology. She also conducted research in a variety of these fields while focusing on employment law.

“It was great experience and allowed me to apply what I had learned in class to the real world,” she said. “I saw how the law effects people and how as a lawyer, I could use it to make people’s situations better.”

The summer program wasn’t McGriff’s first attempt to spend the summer learning more about the law. Previously she participated in the University of Nebraska’s Pre-Law Program. The three-week program gave prospective law students an opportunity to see what law school might be like.

Students took the LSAT preparatory test and attended law school classes in criminal law, property law and torts.

“We were also able to sit in on a juvenile court case. The program really gave us a good idea what law school would be like,” McGriff said.

McGriff says she’s “always doing some sort of program because it’s a good way to see if this is what I really want to do.”

In high school, she participated in a pre-med program at Morehouse University and went through an international affairs seminar at Howard University.

Her interests at Iowa State are also diverse. She was a member of the ISU Ambassadors and the Honors Program. A member of the Pre-Law Club, she edits the student Multicultural Pre-Law newsletter.

“I want to help other students have the same experiences that I have had at Iowa State,” she said.
And if another pre-law program doesn’t come calling, McGriff plans to study abroad soon.

“I like to be involved with things on campus that give me as many different experiences as possible,” she said.

This is truly one by-product of Clarendon County to be on the watch for. As for her grandparents in Manning, they couldn’t be more proud!