In her acceptance speech, Hollis urged those in attendance to remember the victims of the atrocities she has had a hand in prosecuting. 

“I do accept this award, but I dedicate this award to the victims — living and dead — of these mass atrocity crimes,” she said. “They have suffered things that we could not imagine in our wildest imagination. You can't believe that the ones who survived are able to go on, but they do go on. And I think it is really a motivation for us to realize what they have gone through, what they continue to go through, so that we move forward with our job.”

The gala was attended by three U.S. ambassadors, staff from several European embassies, officials with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Justice, and staff from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Hollis was escorted by second-year ASU Law student Justyn Zeider, an IRLS Fellow. Fellows interested in the IRLS program apply in their first year of law school. Zeider also made some remarks at the event. 

“When I applied to law schools, I only applied to one law school — the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law,” he said. “I knew that the place I wanted to be was where it all happens. It was this nation's capital where I could see why we are making the laws we do. Why are we treating people the way that we do? I feel that this experience has been able to show me an entirely different culture that I was never exposed to.”

According to Cayley, ASU Law in D.C. is eyeing several new programs and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

“Our law school has a strong and growing presence in D.C., and we're entering into a growth mode, whether that's the number of our students who take advantage of the opportunities that we have in D.C. or the breadth of the programming that we are able to offer,” said Stacy Leeds, Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor of law. “It certainly is the case that the International Rule of Law and Security program has been central to our successes.”

Lindsay Walker

Communications Manager, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law