UCI Law International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) receives Anteater Award for Most Outstanding Special Interest Organization
Pictured from left: Rochelle Rotea ’18, Sophia Tarazi ’19, and Lauren Ellis ’18 are currently in Beirut doing pro bono work to help refugees seeking resettlement.
UCI Law student organization International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) was honored as Most Outstanding Special Interest Organization at the 37th Annual Anteater Awards on May 17, 2017. The UCI Office of Campus Organizations hosts the awards event every year, highlighting the more than 600 registered student organizations at UC Irvine, and this is the second year in a row that UCI Law IRAP garnered major awards. In 2016, IRAP was recognized with three top awards, the most of any organization at the 36th annual event: Most Outstanding Graduate Organization, Most Outstanding International Organization, and President of the Year for Alexis Federico ’16.
The UCI Law chapter of IRAP is associated with the international organization, and allows students to help refugees from the Middle East and North Africa in applying for resettlement to safer countries. Every year, the UCI Law IRAP chapter sends students to the Middle East to do pro bono work. Currently, three students are in Beirut, Lebanon helping refugees seek resettlement.
This year, in addition to sending students to the Middle East, IRAP has also set up a pen pal program between students from a local school in Orange County and students from a local school in Beirut, Lebanon. The mission behind the pilot program is to promote cultural understanding and fight against xenophobia.