Michael Collett J.D. '16 Honored for Outstanding Service to the Law School Community
Honored Michael Collett receives the George Wythe Award from Dean Douglas. The award is given each year to a member of the graduating class who has demonstrated outstanding and selfless service to the Law School community. Photo by Odd Moxie
Michael Collett J.D. '16 received the George Wythe Award at the Law School's Diploma Ceremony on May 15. The award is named in honor of George Wythe (1726-1806), William & Mary's first law professor and one of the most remarkable attorneys of his time, and is given each year to a graduating student in recognition of his or her outstanding and selfless service to the Law School community.
Collett graduated with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy and currently serves as an active-duty Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He attended William & Mary under the U.S. Navy's Law Education Program and will continue his service after graduation as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Among his endeavors while at William & Mary, Collett served as Chief Justice of the Honor Council, participated in the Puller Veterans Benefits Clinic, and competed as a member of the National Trial Team, where he won two regional trial competitions and a competition award for excellence in trial advocacy.
At the Awards Ceremony for the Class of 2016, held on the eve of graduation, he was inducted into the Order of Barristers, a national honor society that recognizes student advocates who have excelled in written and oral advocacy competitions and activities.
Dean Davison M. Douglas presented the award and read from two of the recommendations from Collett's classmates.
One wrote: "Mike truly exemplifies the best qualities of the citizen lawyer. His integrity, commitment, and devotion to the greater good are unsurpassed in the Class of 2016."
Another classmate contributed this observation: "All who know and encounter Michael at the Law School know that his character is steadfast and is complemented by his sense of humor, his kindness, and his spirit of giving."
About William & Mary Law School
Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.