Last November, Korinna Garfield ’25 took the trip of a lifetime to Baku, Azerbaijan—not for sightseeing, but as part of an eighteen-member delegation from Boston College with official observer status at COP29, the United Nations’ highly influential global climate summit.
“Having this type of experience really sets BC apart,” said Garfield, who had dreamed for years of attending COP. “When I saw that BC Law students could go to COP29, that cemented for me that BC was the kind of place where I could get real-world exposure.”
Garfield’s commitment to environmental advocacy began early, as she held lemonade stands to raise money for rainforest conservation, attended a semester-at-sea program on sustainability in high school, and majored in environmental studies at Williams College. When choosing grad programs, BC Law’s environmental law offerings made it her top choice—but it was her generous aid package that sealed the deal. “Not only for financial reasons,” she said, “but also because it affirmed that the school believed in my potential as a law student and as a future attorney.”
Garfield shared her story at the BC Law Celebration of Scholarship and Philanthropy, held April 8 at Boston’s Langham Hotel. Previously known as the Scholarship Dinner, this flagship event has brought the BC Law community together to honor donor impact for nearly twenty years.
Speaking at the event, Odette Lienau, the Marianne D. Short, Esq., Dean, described the school’s benefactors as “people who understand the magic at the core of the educational mission—the educational spark between a committed, capable student and a passionate, deeply informed professor.”
Lienau emphasized the importance of supporting both students and faculty, the latter a segment that has grown in recent years. In fact, since the University’s Soaring Higher campaign launched in 2023, the number of endowed faculty professorships, fellowships, and similar funds at BC Law has doubled, and giving is now evenly split between financial aid and academic excellence.
James “Jim” Dowden A&S ’97, JD ’00, is among those who have chosen to support both students and faculty. Dowden worked his way through law school as a bartender and went on to clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and serve as an assistant US attorney. Now a partner at Ropes & Gray, he returns each year to teach at BC Law, passing along the same lessons in life and lawyering that helped shape his career.
“Like many of you, I was terrified when I started at BC Law,” Dowden told the Langham audience. “But I had the ace in the hole. I had Sanford Katz, Bob Bloom, and Dan Coquillette; faculty who saw something in me and encouraged me to not just memorize facts but to explore the law’s larger importance and how I could be part of it.”
Garfield has followed a similar path, connecting with like-minded classmates and faculty, including the legendary Professor Zygmunt Plater. A highlight was when he invited her to join his Environmental Law Teaching Program, where she and a classmate designed and co-taught a course for BC undergraduates. “It had been a lifelong dream of mine to teach an undergraduate course,” Garfield said, adding that BC Law is one of the only schools to offer such an opportunity.
The BC Law community also helped Garfield secure internships and externships—including at the Department of Justice and at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection—as well as a coveted summer associate position at the Boston office of Beveridge & Diamond, the country’s largest environmental law firm. After graduation, she plans to return as an associate.
“BC Law has fundamentally shaped my career,” Garfield told the crowd of benefactors. “I am extremely grateful for the generosity of donors like you … and I can’t wait to give back by supporting future generations of BC Law students.”
