2023-24 E-Board
President
Trey Ferguson
Trey is a 3L JD/MBA Student from Nashville, TN. He attended Villanova University where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics. During his time at Vanderbilt, Trey has interned with Cleary Gottlieb, Sullivan & Cromwell, Bain & Co., Shore Capital Partners, and Warburg Pincus. Upon graduation, he will be returning to Warburg Pincus as an Associate in the firm’s healthcare group. Outside of school, he serves on the Advisory Board of Afro Scholars, a 501(c)(3) pipeline program dedicated to offering exceptional first-year law students from underrepresented groups with professional development opportunities. Moreover, he is passionate about reducing barriers to entry for diverse law students and published a book, A(mateur) to B(arrister), in April 2022 to this effect.
Vice President of Internal Affairs
Kaseen Smith
Kaseen is a 2L from Brooklyn, New York. He received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Babson College. This summer, Kaseen will be working at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson in Washington, D.C. and plans to work on M&A and Intellectual Property matters. Once Kaseen retires, he plans on opening a pizza shop in Brooklyn.
Vice President of Programming
Sophia Howard
Sophia is from Nashville, TN and graduated from Spelman College in 2021. Double majoring in Philosophy and Comparative Women’s Studies with a concentration in women’s resistance movements, Howard focused on the intersections of white supremacy and patriarchy. Howard will be a civil rights litigator in the south as a NAACP Legal Defense Fund Marshall-Motley Scholar. Sophia loves art in most forms and has taken pottery classes while in law school, and loves it!
Treasurer
Joy Patterson
Joy is a 2L from Aurora, Illinois. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Trinity University. Following her graduation from Vanderbilt Law School, she is interested in pursuing a career in labor and employment law.
Secretary & Co-Chair of Black History Month Events
Brittany Williams
Brittany is currently a 2L at Vandy Law. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where her early exposure to policing, gentrification, and discriminatory public education practices inspired her to attend law school. Brittany graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a B.S. in both History and Economics. Before law school, Brittany worked for 3.5 years as a paralegal and was a SEO Law Fellow at a big law firm in NYC. At Vandy, Brittany is a Co-Circuit Mentor and a Staff Member on two journals: Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and Social Justice Reporter. This upcoming summer, Brittany will be returning home to work at a big law firm in their transactional practice group. Fun fact: Brittany’s first concert was an Alicia Keys and Miguel concert in 2013, which she won tickets for through a radio giveaway (yes, radio contests are real!!)
Parliamentarian
Peyton Thomas
Peyton is a 3L from Vienna, VA. She is interested in technology, media, and telecom law, as well as the legal issues affecting the music industry. She has spent her summers at Steptoe & Johnson in DC, working with the Internet, Media, and Telecom group. Before law school, she earned her master’s in mass communication and bachelor’s in public relations from the University of Florida. A fun fact about Peyton is that she studied abroad in Florence, Italy during undergrad.
Historian & Academic Excellence Chair
Temi Sanusi Parkinson
Temi Sanusi Parkinson grew up all over the world (the United States, Nigeria, England, etc.) but considers Lagos, Nigeria to be her hometown. She is a second-year JD/MBA at Vanderbilt and is currently at the business school concentrating in Strategy and Human Organizational Performance (HOP). She will practice Mergers and Acquisitions law. Temi graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minors in Business and Criminal Justice. Temi is an avid gardener and maintains a small indoor garden.
Social Events Chair
Johnna Jones
Johnna is a 3L from Nolensville, Tennessee. Before coming to VLS, Johnna attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She graduated with the highest honors, numerous scholarships, and was on the official university dance team. She majored in Economics and History with a minor in Jewish Studies. As a 1L, Johnna was the 1L Representative for Vanderbilt’s International Law Society (ILS), Law Students for Social Justice (LSSJ), and Criminal Law Association. Johnna participated as a general member of many of the other student organizations at VLS. This past summer, Johnna was a summer associate for Butler Snow and an intern for Magistrate Judge Newbern of the Middle District of Tennessee.
Admissions & Recruitment Chair
Ashley Fox
Ashley is a 3L at Vanderbilt Law from Nashville, Tennessee. After law school, she will complete a fellowship with the ACLU of Louisiana focused on voting rights. Ashley holds a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Public Health and African & African-American Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She enjoys traveling, local live music, and running in her free time.
Professional Development Chair
Miles Brinkley
Miles is a 2L at Vanderbilt Law School from Melbourne, Florida. He is an incoming Investment Funds Associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Houston) and graduated from Stanford University in 2018 with a Double Major in African & African American Studies and Political Science. As a fun fact, he once played a game of pickup basketball in the Supreme Court (literally) with some of the justices’ clerks..
Black History Month Co-Chair
Lauryn Wedgeworth
Lauryn Wedgeworth is a current 2L from Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in History and a B.A in Political Science. Wedgeworth also has a Masters in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. She has an interest in pursuing a career in public interest sector. Fun fact: While she’s an excellent cook, she cannot bake.
Community Service Chair
Amalie Moore
Amalie Moore is from Little Rock, Arkansas and went to undergrad at Vanderbilt University, majoring in Human and Organizational Development. She plans on pursuing a career in criminal defense following her graduation from law school in the spring of 2025. Despite being in Nashville since 2017, Amalie attended her first ever NHL Predator’s game this past year.
Social Action Chair
Samuel Patterson III
Samuel is from Leland, Mississippi and aims to practice Financial Services Litigation. He earned his Economics degree from Tougaloo College. Samuel enjoys spending time with his friends and family.
1L Representatives
Funmi Oguns
Funmi Oguns is 1L at VLS and currently serves as one of three representatives of her class. She is a Nigerian from The Bronx, NY. She attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as a POSSE Scholar where she majored in Public Health with a minor in Philosophy. She then received her MPH at the Icahn School of Medicine. She hopes to continue to foster her interest in health and its intersection with law. In her free time she likes to play soccer, create new recipes, catch up with friends and paint!
Kyle Jordan Smith
Kyle Jordan Smith is a first-year law student at Vanderbilt University Law School. He is excited to be serving as a 1L Representative for BLSA this year. His hometown is Waldorf, Maryland and his family is from the South, with roots in South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. Kyle attended Georgia Tech as a Stamps President’s Scholar and earned a B.S. in Public Policy with a minor in international affairs. His long term goal is to lead a career in advocacy and policy making. One fun fact about Kyle is that he enjoys running and has completed a half marathon.
Sydney Stewart
Hi! My name is Sydney, I’m from Plantation, Florida and I’m part of the class of 2026. I went to Vanderbilt University and majored in African American and Diaspora Studies and Human Organizational Development. I’m interest in clerking and criminal defense. My fun fact is that a group of cats is called a clowder!