By Tyler Tomlinson, Esq.
The Temple Owls hold a significant presence in our Bar Association. Out of our 850 BCBA members, a notable 173 are proud Temple Law School alums. Additionally, we’re pleased to have seven Judges who hail from Temple, as well as DA Matt Weintraub.
However, the Temple Owl representation could see a significant boost, pending Board approval next month, with the potential to reach 258 members. This impressive figure would translate to nearly 30% of our members being Temple Owls.
Last week, Emily Norman, the Associate Director of Development & Marketing of BCBA, and I had the privilege of being invited to the first day of law school at Temple. Our mission was to set up a booth during Orientation Day to promote BCBA and BCBF. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the eager and slightly nervous 1Ls as they navigated their way around the campus.
Our initial goal was to recruit at least 10 new members, and just to be safe, Emily came prepared with 50 blank BCBA applications. Surprisingly, after the first hour, the response exceeded our expectations. Emily had to rush to the nearest Staples to make more copies, reminiscent of the scene from “Jaws” when Chief Martin Brody famously declared, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Incredibly, a total of 85 students eagerly signed up to join BCBA! In contrast, a good year typically sees around 60 new members joining BCBA. Adam Tanker, Chair of Member Services, was astounded by this remarkable turnout.
These enthusiastic students are keen to establish connections with experienced lawyers, seek mentorship opportunities, and ultimately secure jobs in Bucks County upon graduation.
We’re particularly proud to announce that we welcomed our first member from India, who, in turn, encouraged two of her friends to become members as well. Consequently, we now have three times more members from India than Indiana (courtesy of David Truelove).
Temple Law School is truly becoming an international hub. We received membership applications from students from Canada, Cambodia, China, Germany, Italy, India, Nigeria and more. BCBA is poised to become one of the most diverse bar associations in the Commonwealth once all these memberships are approved.
Just as a group of owls is called a parliament and a baby owl is an owlet, we now call upon our current BCBA members to step up and mentor these “owlets.” Let’s work together to make this parliament one of the strongest in the world.
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor or simply engaging with one of these new members, please contact Adam Tanker at adam.tanker@obermayer.com, Emily Norman at emily.norman@bucksbar.org, or Tyler Tomlinson at TTomlinson@stark-stark.com.
Rest assured, there’s no need to worry about rumors suggesting we’ll replace our beloved mascot, The Buck, with an Owl at this time!