SGA committee serves student organizations →

At the beginning of every calendar year, the Student Government Association’s budget and finance committee interviews over 200 organizations to determine how much money each organization should be allocated for the following year.

Theodora Winter, chair of the committee and a junior cell and molecular biology student from Garland, said there are several factors which play into deciding how much money each organization should receive. Additionally, every organization must fulfill several requirements before it is considered for funding.

“It seems like a grueling process,” Winter said, “but it’s very rewarding because when we’re interviewing organizations we get to learn everything they do as an org: all the community service events, all the fundraising, all the awards they get. And it shows how much we, as Texas Tech, have an impact on our local and global community.”

Winter said the most important thing for the committee to remember is to listen to the organizations they represent. By paying close attention to the needs and the missions of each organization, the committee can effectively provide them with funding.

“We very much like to be involved and also just want fairness for each and every (organization),” Winter said, “so that organizations that do get the $500, don’t feel like they don’t have as much attention as organizations that get $10,000 from us.”

If an organization feels it did not receive the funding it hoped for, there are three SGA senate meetings during which an organization can appeal to increase how much money it was allocated, Winter said.

However, some organizations tend to consistently get more funding because of the nature of its work, community involvement and contribution to Texas Tech, she said.

“All those organizations that get a lot of money, it’s because, for years, they’ve had great spending history and they make our school look really great,” she said.

Winter said some examples of organizations and teams that are heavily funded through SGA are the Knight Raiders and the Meat Judging Team. Those organizations often win the competitions they travel to participate in, so SGA makes sure it has the funds to travel.

“My hope is that we can spread the love to every single college,” Winter said, “because we do have some colleges that are helped a lot more than others. That’s partly because, you know, (those colleges have) more organizations.”

David Rivero, a member of the committee who is double majoring in marketing and management, said his role on the committee is to serve as a liaison between the SGA senators and the student organizations the senators represents.

He is also responsible for helping determine how much funding an organization will receive yearly, he said.

“There’s this whole weekend that we spend as a budget and finance committee — Theo says will get very close — (during which) we will actually spend the entire weekend evaluating each and every organization: their interviews, their past funding history,” Rivero said. “And then we come up with how much they will be allocated for the next school year.”

He said the members of the committee take this task very seriously and care greatly about the clubs and organizations they represent.

The senators and coordinators who work with the university to provide funding to organizations develop a personal relationship with the organizations under their watch, and try to ensure the organizations are able to grow as much as possible, Rivero said.

“For me, I guarantee you, each and every one of my organizations will get as much money as I can possibly give them,” he said. “I stand with my organizations and I think that they’re doing a great job.”

He said the committee hopes to see an organization use the entirety of its funding before it receives new funding the following year.

If an organization uses all of its money before the next fiscal year begins, it can apply for a contingency, Rivero said.

“We’re very cautious of how much of the budget we’re actually allocating because,” he said, “at the end of the year, we just want to make sure from a financial standpoint that the monies are being used and that we’re actually allocating correctly.”

Rivero said the committee’s main focus is to look at how much funding organizations have received in the past and how the organizations used those funds.

However, Rivero said if an organization is new to campus, its interview with SGA will carry more weight than usual.

“We are really interested in the happenings of their organization,” Rivero said. “What they do, how they do it. Do they participate in community service and philanthropy events? We are really looking for that well-rounded organization who will utilize this money.”

Right now, Rivero said SGA funding coordinators are corresponding with organizations by email and preparing for the upcoming spring semester.

The coordinators do this by helping organizations remember to fill out forms, submit paperwork and complete trainings in order to stay in good standing with SGA so they can receive funding for next year, he said.

Will Harris, vice chair of the budget and finance committee and a junior pre-nursing student from Plano, said he and Winter hold committee meetings every Tuesday at 9 p.m. and every Sunday at 4 p.m. Sometimes, the committee meets three times a week.

Harris said the only weeks they do not have committee meetings are the weeks they have senate meetings.

“We work really hard to make sure students are getting money and the information they need,” Harris said.

The goal of the committee, Harris said, is to make sure organizations have the resources they need in order to serve the roles they exist to fill.

When an organization does not receive as much funding as it was hoping for, the committee sits down with the organization and tries to help them figure out ways to become more fundable, he said.

“We’re not here to critique anybody if they’re not doing something right,” Harris said. “We’re here to help. We’re here to help them operate on campus and do what they want to do.”

Brandon Formby succeeds as journalist →

From his Twitter account, Brandon Formby reported the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and how it affected Texans.

However, before Twitter added that blue check next to his name, Formby was the editor for La Ventana and editor for The Daily Toreador, then known as The University Daily.

Prior to all this, Formby grew up in Plano and attended Collin College before transferring to Texas Tech in 1998. From there, he decided to major in journalism and was active with Tech’s Student Media from the beginning of his career.

Because of his natural storytelling abilities, Formby’s experience at The DT did not just help develop his personal career but also helped develop the careers of the editors who followed behind him. Kevin Cullen, former editor for The DT who now works as a UX/UI designer at The Charity Network, spoke about how Formby’s time at The DT inspired him nearly 10 years later.

“I do know, just basically from being at The DT, that (Formby) did a pretty incredible job (covering 9/11),” Cullen said. “So, when I was (the editor) there, I always had a copy of that 9/11 issue in the office. It was always a kind of cool legacy to look back at.”

Even though many of the editors who succeeded him at The DT were greatly impacted by his exceptional 9/11 coverage, Formby said he was nervous about going into the field of journalism after 9/11.

Despite this, Formby followed his gift for storytelling to Dallas after graduation. A few months later, he said he was hired at The Dallas Morning News in 2003 as a news clerk for the Southlake bureau for a year, after which he became a reporter for the Denton County bureau.

“It’s hard not to notice or hear (Formby),” Cullen said. “He’s a very forward person. He’s very, not out-there but very opinionated. He’s very good at what he does.”

During his time at Tech, Formby became widely known for his opinions columns. Courtney Brady, a former co-worker in the Department of Student Media and long-time friend of Formby, said he might have been better known as a columnist than he was as an editor.

“He kind of ran all over the place (with his columns), whether it was just his own personal stories that were funny or talking about campus issues,” Brady said. “And, he was pretty controversial, too. I would always joke with him because we couldn’t go eat pizza or get tacos without somebody coming up to him or knowing him.”

Brady said everyone who worked with Formby at The DT knew he would be a successful journalist. Ironically, they used to joke with him that one day he would most likely be a Tech alum featured in The DT.

“It just takes one conversation with Brandon to realize he has such a gift for communication and story-telling,” Brady said. “He is the real deal. And all of us who worked with him, all of his friends, we all knew that he was going to go really far in the industry.”

Formby said he accepted the position of urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune in 2016 after working for The Dallas Morning News for almost 13 years.

However, without the experience of working for Student Media, he said he would not be where he is today.

“It wasn’t like we were getting to pretend to be journalists. We were journalists (at The DT),” Formby said. “Everything from deciding what to cover, to how we covered it (and) how it came out on the paper or online, the students made those decisions. So, when I graduated and when I started at The Dallas Morning News, I had four years of being a journalist under my belt.”

Formby said working as an editor for both publications helped him understand what editors go through. Those experiences taught him, as a reporter, to be more thorough with his writing and to have a clean copy of his stories.

“It helped me be a reporter (people) could count on to do what reporters need to do,” he said. “I didn’t need help every step of the way. They knew they could count on me to go out in the field and get the important questions answered, and come back and turn the story around, and it would be in good shape.”

Formby also said one of his most memorable times at Tech was when the Red Raiders defeated Texas A&M, 21-19, at Jones AT&T Stadium in early October 1999.

“That was the game where everyone rushed the field, tore down the goal post, marched the goal post out of the stadium, marched it down the street, back to campus and to the Will Rogers (statue),” he said. “There was this huge crowd of fans going absolutely crazy.”

Formby said if there is one lesson students in the College of Media & Communication can learn from their time at Tech, it is to not solely take journalism classes but also work in the field of journalism. Students can get more practice working in the field than in class.

Even though students learn about journalism and writing in the classroom setting, Formby said working in Student Media allows aspiring journalists to get more practice in the field.

“The pace of Student Media prepares you for what it’s going to be like to work for a news agency after college,” Formby said. “The way to get a job is to show people what you’ve already done, and if you work for Student Media, you have that when you graduate.”

Rain or Shine: Tech, Arizona State fans remain resilient as rain dampens game-day plans →

As Lubbock continues to experience scattered rainstorms, fans reflect on this weekend’s damp start to the football game.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, Lubbock buzzed with excitement as the Texas Tech Red Raiders prepared to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at Jones AT&T Stadium. While Tech fans lined up at the stadium gates, storm clouds began to darken the sky.

Despite the threat of rain, crowds dressed in white continued to move toward the stadium. However, only shortly after the gates opened, the sky did, too. Rain poured down on the stadium, drenching the bleachers and dousing the field.

Fans were told they needed to take shelter on the concourse level, where they waited for nearly an hour until the rain finally cleared and play began.

Paul Tabia, a stadium employee, said the plan was to wait out the storm and then, hopefully, they would be able to start the game.

“We’ve just been told it was going to be at least an hour, right now,” Tabia said. “And if (the rain) doesn’t lighten up, then (the game is) probably going to be cancelled.”

Even with the chance of the game being canceled, swarms of both Tech and Arizona State fans hunkered down on the concourse to wait for the storm to pass.

Clayton Kothmann, a sophomore finance major from Midland, said he was told to take shelter about an hour and 15 minutes before the original kick off time of 7 p.m.

“They first told us to evacuate, and then they said we didn’t have to leave, and then the cops came in and said, ‘You need to leave now,’” Kothmann said.

Having driven hours to watch the game, some fans said they would wait as long as needed to see the Red Raiders and Sun Devils go head to head.

Ron Covington, a Red Raider fan from Arlington, said he usually drives to Lubbock for at least one game every year.

“Weather happens, but I’m glad to be here,” Covington said. “(The storm) is no big deal for me. We’re not going anywhere. If the stadium’s full of water, we’re still going to stay.”

Not only did Tech alumni come to Lubbock for the game, but many Arizona State fans also made the journey from Arizona to Lubbock.

Brady Payne, an Arizona State fan from Morenci, Arizona, said he drove 12 hours with his in-laws to come to the game.

“We drove to El Paso last night and then drove from El Paso (to Lubbock) today,” Payne said.

Having travelled for two days to see the game, Payne said he and his in-laws planned on sticking it out until the rain cleared.

Bill Tatman, an Arizona State alumnus from Tempe, Arizona, took a flight to Lubbock to explore the town and watch the game with long-time friends.

“We come for, more than the game, the friendships,” Tatman said. “We’re college friends, and all these years later, we still like being together. So, we usually do one road game (a year). None of us had ever been to Lubbock, so, here we are.”

Like Tatman and his crowd, many of the game’s attendees were not expecting rain or were hoping the storm clouds would pass over.

One fan, Matthew Gregoire, a nursing student at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center from Jamestown, Rhode Island, said he decided to take a nap while waiting for the rain to clear.

“We pulled up the Weather Channel app and saw the Doppler and were hopeful,” Gregoire said. “So, I took a nap (on the concourse), and then, when I woke up, there was a rainbow right over Panda Express, so we came (into the stands) and sat down.”

Alumna lands dream job with Tech System →

In May 2016, Dana Jennings graduated from the College of Media & Communication with a bachelor’s degree in public relations. She spent the following year in the College of Media & Communication’s 30-hour master’s program.

Upon graduation in May, she was offered the position of executive and internal communications coordinator in the Texas Tech System’s Communications and Marketing office. On Thursday, July 20, she celebrated her 22nd birthday, making her the youngest member of the System’s Communications and Marketing team.

“When I got into grad school and I got into this position, I just started to feel empowered constantly,” Jennings said, “because it was never, ‘Oh, you’re young. You can’t do this.’ It was just, ‘You’re here, and you’re doing a good job, so keep going.’ And the same is true with my grad school courses and my grad school professors. I never felt like they weren’t trying to empower me and push me forward.”

However, Jennings did not start her schooling at Tech in the College of Media & Communication. Originally, she said, she was determined to be a dentist. Her love of biology and desire to pursue a degree in dentistry was only dampened by the chemistry-heavy degree plan that stretched before her. After a brawl with CHEM 1307, she started to explore courses offered by other colleges.

Jennings said this is what led her to the College of Media & Communication where she took her first public relations course. During the spring semester of her freshman year, she realized she loved public relations.

“Those courses just kind of sparked for me,” she said. “I made the connection that communication has always been so important to me. Ever since I was a child, it has always been very important to me that people are understanding what I’m trying to say, and I’m understanding what they’re trying to say. And I want things to be very clear, and I want to get my point across, and I want to do it well and intelligently.”

Having been a confident performer and a prolific writer since she was in elementary school, Jennings said she is thankful she went to primary and secondary schools that encouraged creativity and fostered strong communication skills in students.

She said many schools nowadays do not emphasize the importance of creative writing or the arts. To Jennings, these outlets are incredibly important. In fact, she won two awards for costume design in North Texas. However, her greatest passion remained spoken and written word.

“I love language, and I love words,” she said. “It sounds so weird to say that. We use words day in and day out, but I truly love words and the power of words and finding new words to use and things like that.”

Jennings said she always tested into higher course levels in elementary school when given the chance. This same caliber of academic dedication and enthusiasm followed her all the way through graduate school.

Her passion for learning was matched by her professors’ willingness to pour their knowledge into their students, she said.

“My favorite courses always came down to the professors that I had and, I think, in CoMC, we have some stand-out professors,” Jennings said, “that just truly, truly invest in the lives of students, and at Texas Tech, it’s not rare to find professors like that, but I think at other universities, it is.”

Working closely with Lisa Low, assistant professor of practice of public relations, Jennings was able to develop a deeper love for the art of public relations. On top of that, Jennings said Low played an instrumental role in Jennings’ path to the System building.

“I remember, on a Sunday — three weeks before I graduated — I told Lisa Low, who was my boss in the Outpost social media lab where I worked for a year during my undergrad, ‘I think I’m going to go to grad school. Will you write me a (recommendation letter)?’” Jennings said. “(Low) was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Of course.’ The next day, she forwards me an email from someone in the chancellor’s office asking for someone to help tide them over until they hired a vice chancellor in Communications and Marketing to help with the day to day.”

Jennings said it is unlikely she would have received the opportunity to work in her current office without Low’s recommendation.

For Low, there was no question about whether or not Jennings would be a good fit to work at the System building. Low said she could see how naturally Jennings understood the content she was being taught in her classes since the first day.

“She has an innate understanding of public relations principals,” Low said. “She had a strong interest in our major, and you could definitely see that she was learning in every single class. That’s why I say you could talk to any one of her professors, and they’d say, ‘Yeah, I remember her. She was awesome.’”

Though Jennings is no longer enrolled in classes at Tech, she said she is constantly learning more about strategic communication because she works with people who have extensive experience in the communications field.

One of her favorite things about her work in the System building is getting to be around those experienced leaders and coworkers, she said.

“I am surrounded by leadership that I wholeheartedly believe in,” Jennings said. “And that’s honestly my favorite part, because I get to feel like I’m part of building this. I’m part of expanding our brand and executing our vision with the great leaders I’m surrounded by. And there’s constantly things to learn because everyone here has lived incredible professional lives, and they have so much to offer, and they’re so willing to teach, and they’re so willing to share those experiences.”

Brett Ashworth, vice chancellor for Communications and Marketing for the Tech System, said when he was hired this past year, there was no question of whether or not he would offer Jennings a full-time position in the Communications and Marketing office.

From the moment he met her, he could see how driven and hard-working she is. When he first arrived on the scene, he was tasked with the responsibility of constructing the Communications and Marketing team. Ashworth said he knew immediately that he would want Jennings on that team.

“At that time, Dana was really the only one performing many of the functions that we perform today, and she was doing it as a graduate assistant, which, obviously, was very impressive to me,” Ashworth said. “It was easy to see very quickly the skill set and the talent and attitude and work ethic that she possessed, which I thought was a great compliment to the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication.”

Even when Jennings first began her work at the System building as a graduate assistant, she said her role consisted of helping Chancellor Robert L. Duncan communicate his message and vision to Tech students, faculty, staff, alumni and the rest of the world.

While that seems like a hefty job for a graduate assistant, Ashworth said she handled it with skill and confidence.

“Much of what she was doing was the internal communications or the executive communications and supporting the chancellor and doing some of his speech writing and talking-point and message development, which is a big job,” Ashworth said. “And to think that we had a graduate assistant performing those functions was really impressive.”

Jennings’ work at the Communications and Marketing office continues to center on her mission to share the chancellor’s vision with the Tech community. However, she said her time at the System building has been much more meaningful than most people would expect from a theoretically administrative position.

“I feel as though I’m having a greater impact by being a part of this,” Jennings said.

Even though Jennings has only been out of graduate school for three months, she said she is sitting in her dream job. After studying how to navigate the world of digital public relations, she loves that she is able to hone her writing skills through more traditional public relations work.

She said that public relations is all about telling the story. Everyone has a story to tell, and her job is to tell those stories. So, as she continues to help the chancellor tell the story of his vision for Tech, Jennings said she gets to start the story of her professional career here on Tech’s campus.

“Our motto at the System and Texas Tech University is, ‘From here, it’s possible,’” Jennings said. “And I am that story. I am, ‘From here, it’s possible.’ Texas Tech poured into me everything that I could have ever imagined, and I have the opportunity to pour back into it and give back to this university and this university system at a whole different level than I could have ever imagined.”

Raider Welcome continues to engage new students →

As the first week of school gets underway, Raider Welcome events continue to help introduce new students to one another, Texas Tech and the Lubbock community. 

Rachel Jackson, associate director of Tech’s department of Transition & Engagement, said what was previously known as Welcome Week is now called Raider Welcome because it continues past the week prior to the start of classes.

"Raider Welcome is an opportunity for us to really come together as a campus to welcome these students back to this place that they're going to call home for the next several years," Jackson said. 

She said her department considers the fact that there are many students returning or moving to Lubbock. Raider Welcome serves nontraditional students, veterans who are pursuing a college degree and transfer students.

While the Transition & Engagement department has a diverse body of students to consider, Jackson said its goal for Raider Welcome is consistent.

"We wanted to reintroduce them to a lot of the services and programs that they maybe got a taste of during orientation,” she said, “but now that they're here, moved back in, they can really get the opportunity to start experiencing it and experiencing life as a Red Raider."

Jackson also said one of Transition & Engagement’s initiatives for this year’s Raider Welcome was to introduce “tracks.” The purpose of these tracks is to help students efficiently identify which events best suit their interests. 

Tracks can be classified as anything from Social Connections to Community Involvement and are specified in most of the Raider Welcome event descriptions. This track system makes it easier for students to decide which events to go to, she said.

"Raider Welcome has grown over the last several years,” Jackson said. “This year, we have more than 125 different events. (The events are) just different ways for students to get involved, so there is really something for everyone, no matter what their interests are."

Danielle Marshall, a museum science and heritage management graduate student from Arlington who helped organize a Raider Welcome event, said some of the events focus on acquainting new students with the Lubbock area.

The event Marshall helped organize was called Hack the Museum. It took place at the Museum of Texas Tech University on Friday and was a collaborative effort from museums throughout Lubbock. By doing this, the planning committee hoped to introduce new students to the various museums in the Lubbock area.

"I come from the DFW area,” Marshall said. “So, moving (to Lubbock) I had people say, 'What're you going to do out there? You're getting a museum degree and then moving to West Texas.'”

Having just moved to Lubbock from Arlington, Marshall said Lubbock has more museums close to her than did Arlington.

While the event was hosted in the Museum of Texas Tech, it is not the only museum in Lubbock.

"A lot of students and people, in general, find it really surprising, actually,” Marshall said. “A lot of them, too, would assume that all of the museums out here are going to be some kind of West Texas, farm-based (museum). They're far from it."

In order to showcase the various museums that can be found in Lubbock, Marshall said she invited the Science Spectrum, the Bayer Museum of Agriculture, the Windmill Museum, the Silent Wings Museum and the National Ranching Heritage Center to the event.

Both Marshall and Jackson said prospective students often wonder what activities and adventures await them in Lubbock. Therefore, part of Raider Welcome’s mission is to show what all can be done for fun in Lubbock. This particular event was an extensive showcase of places that students can explore. 

"(Hack the Museum) is definitely an opportunity for students to get outside of the classroom and find those outside-of-the-classroom learning experiences that we have with our Texas Tech Museum and all the museums in Lubbock,” Jackson said. “Helping students find those opportunities to really enrich their education outside of the classroom through those museums. So, it’s a great way to get introduced to it right from the start." 

Two Tech students who attended this event and other Raider Welcome events provided their perspectives on the two-week marathon of activities.

Brianna Mares, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Dallas, said going to Raider Welcome events has helped her meet new people and become more familiar with campus and with Lubbock.

“My roommate is a sophomore, so she's showing me everything,” Mares said. “If she can't go (to an event), she's like, 'You need to go. You'll meet people.'"

Another student, Anthony Veserra, a freshman civil engineering major from Houston, said he is thankful for the opportunity Raider Welcome provides to make friends.

He said it can be difficult to meet people and get to know the area when one first moves to Lubbock, but Raider Welcome helps new students adjust to their temporary homes.

“I feel like the Raider Welcome events kind of force you to meet new people, rather than just, you know, (waiting for) the random chance that you'll (see) someone you know,” Veserra said.

In fact, Veserra said he met Mares at a Raider Welcome event just a few hours prior to the Hack the Museum event. Their friendship is just one of the many that Raider Welcome helps form.

Innocence Project exonerates victims of wrongful convictions →

The Texas Tech School of Law brought an Innocence Clinic to campus through a partnership with the Innocence Project of Texas, an organization which works to bring post-conviction exonerations to those who were imprisoned before DNA evidence was used regularly in court cases.

In years past, the clinic has operated off campus. This is the first year the clinic is located in the School of Law’s building, Allison Clayton, adjunct professor at the School of Law, said. Her willingness to, through the clinic, provide instruction on how to practice innocence law allowed the law school to bring it onto campus.

“The (American Bar Association) has certain mandates for how clinics have to be taught and how many hours the professor has to be available for the students,” Clayton said.

Michael Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas, helped start this clinic with the School of Law. However, it is now operating almost entirely under the guidance of Clayton, Ware said.

The educational importance of this clinic rests on the reality that the work done through the Innocence Project of Texas falls within a unique area of law, Clayton said.

“There are a lot of aspects to it that you’re not going to learn in any other classes,” Clayton said.

The increased reliance on two legal concepts are what distinguish innocence law from other legal practices, Clayton said. The first of these is the use of habeas corpus, a writ ordering a person in custody to be brought before a court.

Rudy Moisiuc, a third-year law student who serves as one of the clinic’s four student attorneys, said the second concept is an Article 64 motion, which directly involves post-conviction DNA testing

“Article 64 is basically getting testing done on physical evidence,” Moisiuc said. “Whether it’s a pair of panties or whatever the DNA is on — whatever physical evidence they have in storage — we do an Article 64 motion to get it tested.”The difference between writ of habeas corpus and an Article 64 motion is habeas corpus entails an attorney arguing that a conviction is unfair and then presenting evidence that supports the claim, Moisiuc said.

Because DNA testing has not been around forever, Clayton said many criminals convicted in older cases are now coming forward and asking that their cases be retried with the inclusion of DNA evidence.

“(Wrongful convictions) happen a lot more than people want to acknowledge,” Clayton said. “It’s okay to acknowledge whenever they do happen, and it’s okay to work with people to get them overturned.”

Clayton, who also serves as a post-conviction appellate attorney, said it is difficult to motivate district attorneys to reopen these cases.

After court declares someone guilty, the idea of that ruling being wrong is a difficult one for most district attorneys to embrace, she said.

“You’ve had 12 people sit down and hear all the evidence in the case. You’ve had 12 people sit down and say, ‘In our judgement, he’s guilty.’ And that determination gets a great deal of deference in our world,” Clayton said. “We really treat that verdict with a great deal of respect.”

However, the Innocence Project of Texas does not exist to get guilty people out of prison, Clayton said. If the Innocence Clinic is brought a case that involves a convict the student attorneys do not believe is innocent, they drop the case immediately.

Only third-year law students are allowed to be a part of the clinic. Therefore, neither the students nor Clayton can afford to waste their time on a case they believe does not involves a wrongful conviction, Moisiuc said.

“It’s really exciting to be a part of all of this. I really, really think we can do a lot of good,” Clayton said.

For her class on innocence law, Clayton said she planned to discuss a case that involved a convict who pled guilty to felony-degree theft, Clayton said. The allegations against him were made by his uncle who, years later, came forward saying that he had found all of the allegedly stolen items in his closet.

The Innocence Clinic at Tech is working on this case alongside several others. While they work unwearyingly to get these post-conviction exonerations, it can take a while to process evidence and receive a new decision because of how slowly the court system operates, Clayton said.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to get an exoneration,” she said, “depending on how quickly the courts act, but we’re going to get an exoneration (in the case involving theft).”

Moisiuc said this will be the clinic’s first exoneration.

However, Clayton said the Innocence Project also struggles to get post-conviction exonerations because, often times, those who bring the wrongful conviction do not want their work or the system they have convicted someone through to appear compromised.

“In any kind of system that functions around humans,” Clayton said, “there are mistakes, and there is strength in acknowledging that mistakes happen and that there is a certain morality that comes in being able to say, ‘We messed up.’”

Moisiuc said this has been one of the largest obstacles in their main case: the case of Edward Ates. Convicted of murder years ago, Ates has been waiting in prison for someone to prove his innocence, which is what the Innocence Clinic intends to do.

While the clinic’s four student attorneys, along with Clayton, work on cases of their own, their primary focus is on Ates’ case. Hurdling over compromised storage of evidence, factual inaccuracies, false testimonies and reluctant district attorneys, they have continued to fight for Ates’ freedom.

“In some cases, the DA’s office doesn’t want to help you. They don’t want to get you papers,” Clayton said. “They’re going to fight you tooth and nail, just because they feel like that’s the thing they’re supposed to do, because that’s the old way of thinking."

To combat this, Moisiuc said they spend a significant amount of time simply listening to stories from the witnesses, the victims and the convicts. Once they fully understand what went wrong, they try convince the DA to work with them on the case.

Clayton said the reason she spends so much time listening to their clients — why she talks with them on the phone for hours, writes them letter upon letter, and drives for hours on end to visit them in prison — is her desire to restore the legal system outlined in the U.S. Constitution to its full glory.

“I think we have the best system in the world, and when it fails, that failure is really distressing to me,” Clayton said. “This idea that our system, this beautiful system, messed up and that someone has been hurt because of it is distressing. That’s not justice.”

The team of five has been working tirelessly to bring justice to Ates and their other clients. At the beginning of March, Moisiuc said they spent half a week traveling around Texas, meeting with the convicts they are helping.

Of the time they were on this trip, 25 hours were spent in the car, driving from city to city, Clayton said. While this work can be exhausting and involves little financial return, this team of five is eager to help get justice for their clients.

“It’s just one of those things,” Clayton said. “If you’re going to fight for something, you fight for it.”

School of Law hosts discussion on San Antonio Four case →

The Texas Tech School of Law hosted a discussion focusing on the San Antonio Four court case on Monday in the Lanier Auditorium.

The event featured a discussion panel consisting of four women who were exonerated post-conviction — Elizabeth “Liz” Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez — and their attorney, Michael Ware.  

“In 1995, we were charged with aggravated sexual assault, two counts,” Vasquez said. “And, in 1997, Liz went to trial alone.”

Without the evidence or the attorney they needed to prove their innocence, the court found them guilty and the San Antonio Four began serving their individual prison sentences, Ware said.

“There was a point when you just couldn’t even believe what was happening to us. We still can’t believe what happened,” Ramirez said.

The recently exonerated women were wrongfully convicted nearly 15 years ago and have been in prison, isolated from their friends, family and children ever since, Mayhugh said. 

“It’s not easy,” Mayhugh said, “being torn away from people you love.”

As the women began to wipe tears from their eyes, they said the time taken from them by this wrongful conviction did not only affect their lives but also affected the lives of their loved ones.

Two of the women, Ramirez and Rivera, have children. When they were first imprisoned, Rivera’s children were 9 and 10 years old. Ramirez said she had just given birth. 

“Even if they did see their kids, it was through glass. No touching, no contact. You can’t hug them, kiss them,” Mayhugh said.

Rivera’s children are now 24 and 25 years old. She said they have a good relationship, but her life with them so far has not looked the way she expected it to. 

All four women lost a substantial amount of time with those they love because they refused to accept the plea deals they were offered. Instead, they insisted that the truth of their innocence be made known, even though that did not happen for nearly 15 years, Vasquez said.

“It’s just how you get back what you lost,” Rivera said. “But we’re all a family again. Because of Mike(Ware).”

Ware, their attorney, said he discovered this case through the Innocence Project of Texas. With the hope of revealing that the women had been wrongfully convicted, he set out to prove their innocence.

Their case was based on the assertion that they had gang-raped Ramirez’s two nieces. Because all four women are homosexuals, many of the people involved in this case have suggested that their sexuality played a role in the original verdict, Ramirez said.

At the end of the discussion, Rivera said to the room full of potential lawyers that the most important trait for an attorney to have is empathy.

“Think about it,” Rivera said. “What if this was me? How would I want to be represented?”