McCauley wins Cohen Professionalism Scholars award

Meghan McCauley, a first-year law student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, recently was chosen as the winner of the 2008 Cohen Professionalism Scholars competition, based on an essay she wrote about integrity.

McCauley, whose essay was titled “Commandment 10: Honor who you are and you will bring honor to what you do,” received a $1,000 scholarship from the sponsors of the contest, Loren Cohen and Maricopa County Superior Court judge Bruce R. Cohen, an alumnus of the College of Law.

The Cohens awarded second place and a $500 scholarship to Alison Atwater, and honorable mentions – along with $250 scholarships – to Amy M. Coughenour, Natalie Greaves and Daniel A. Lewis.

The Cohens will take the students to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in June.

This is the third annual presentation of the awards.

The entire Class of 2010 submitted essays to the Cohens, writing about the greatest moral dilemmas they’d ever faced and how they were resolved. The Cohens said the submissions were entertaining and inspiring, making the judging very difficult.

“If you’re not called up here, you nonetheless have inspired us and raised our optimism for the legal profession for the future,” Bruce Cohen said at the presentation.

McCauley’s essay recounted her internal struggle with telling the truth about her past indiscretions when applying to get into the Air Force, and risk not only being rejected, but bringing dishonor to three prior military generations of her family, or lying about her past and being admitted.

“We never realize the dark skeletons we have in our closets until we are asked to fill out a character and fitness report, asking everything from, did we ever pull someone’s hair in the first grade to whether or not we took a sip of alcohol prior to the day we turned 21 to whether or not we had committed misdemeanors or worse felonies,” McCauley wrote.

To read all of the essays, go to www.law.asu.edu.