Sidley Austin LLP, a world-renowned law firm, has named Alfredo Barcenas, a Cal State San Bernardino senior and former Associated Students Inc. president, as one of its scholars, ranking alongside students from Columbia, Stanford, and Princeton.
Barcenas was recently announced the 2016 recipient of the Undergraduate Student of the Year Award by the Association for Student Conduct Administration. He has been working to pursue a law degree after graduation this spring.
“When I received notification that I had been named a scholar, I could not believe it. Out of all these amazing universities — Columbia, Yale, and Stanford — I was chosen,” said Barcenas. “Law school is definitely a pathway to my career in law, and receiving this scholarship makes it that more realistic. The application process is expensive, and to have an opportunity like this makes it that much more achievable.”
The program will pay for an LSAT course to better prepare him for the law school exam, pay for up to seven law school applications, and provide a scholarship upon acceptance to a law school.
“The best part of this honor is the fact that I am representing Cal State San Bernardino on a national level, alongside very powerful institutions (Ivy League schools). It goes to show that at CSUSB, hard work and ambition pays off,” said Barcenas.
Majoring in political science, Barcenas has had quite the year at CSUSB. Last summer, the 22-year-old was appointed vice president for University Affairs in the system wide California State Student Association for the 2015-2016 academic year. Student leaders from each of the California State University campuses represent more than 40,000 students in the CSU system.
“This acknowledgment is a wonderful affirmation of Alfredo’s many gifts as well as a testament to the high quality education he has received at CSUSB,” said Alysson Satterlund, associate vice president and dean of students.
The Barstow resident was also among the 20 students nationwide who were selected to participate as congressional interns with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C., last fall. He interned for U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and on the Senate Committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs from August through November.
Sidley provides a broad range of legal services to meet the needs of its diverse client base. Major practice disciplines include corporate and securities, mergers and acquisitions, securitization, intellectual property, funds and other pooled investments, bankruptcy and corporate reorganization, bank and commercial lending, public finance, real estate, project finance, tax and employee benefits, as well as trusts and estates.
Sidley’s regulatory practice in Washington, D.C., Brussels and elsewhere provides communications, energy, environmental, food, drug and device, healthcare, insurance, financial institutions and securities regulatory services to clients in virtually every major industry, especially those industries that have been strictly regulated worldwide, such as the life sciences, energy, telecommunications and financial industries.
About California State University, San Bernardino: Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015-2016, Cal State San Bernardino serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.
For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.