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Michael Knight and Ladene Mendoza, both of whom are candidates for juris doctorates from IU McKinney in May, will be among the students honored with the William M. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion from the IUPUI Center for Service and Learning. A total of 51 recipients from 14 different schools will receive the honors.

The William M. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion is designed to honor graduating IUPUI students who have shown an exemplary commitment to the community and who have developed an ethic of civic mindedness.  This engagement includes activities such as volunteer or pro bono service at a non-profit agency, participation in service learning courses, voluntary service abroad or involvement with a faculty member on a community-based research project.

Knight is a dual-degree candidate in the juris doctorate and master of arts in philosophy programs. He’s completed more than 200 hours of pro bono service while in law school, has completed the requirements of the criminal law graduate certificate, and is an articles editor for the Indiana Health Law Review. In addition, he has been a student in the wrongful conviction clinic, and the criminal defense clinic. He also worked as an extern in the Marion County Public Defender Agency, and took part in the Clemency Project 2014, and the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps JD program.

“I am thrilled to be receiving this award and look forward to being a positive force in our community,” Knight said.

Mendoza is working toward earning a Corporate and Commercial Law Graduate Certificate, which would be bestowed when she graduates in May 2016. She is the recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for earning the highest grade in her Consumer Law course in Fall 2014. In addition, she was the 2014-15 recipient of the Krieg DeVault Excellence in Editing Award; was executive managing editor of the Indiana Health Law Review Volume XIII, served as the 2015-16 president of the Hispanic Law Society, was a student mentor in the Student Bar Association McKinney Mentor program in 2014-15, and has served on the Diversity Dinner Planning Committee for the Black Law Students Association and the Hispanic Law Society since 2014.

This year’s recipients will be honored with their medallions at the IUPUI Robert G. Bringle Civic Engagement Showcase by former Dean of Faculty, William M. Plater, on April 12 at the Campus Center.