Kevin McCandlish J.D. ’18 Receives George Wythe Award at Graduation
Honored Dean Douglas presented the award to Kevin McCandlish, at right, in recognition of his deep devotion and outstanding service to the Law School. Photo by Odd Moxie
Kevin McCandlish J.D. ’18 received the George Wythe Award at the Law School's Diploma Ceremony on May 13. The award is named in honor of George Wythe—Wiliam & Mary's and the nation's first professor of law—and is given each year to a graduating student in recognition of his or her outstanding and selfless service.
Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas presented the award and read from classmates’ comments to illustrate the high esteem in which McCandlish was held by his peers. Classmates hailed him as “the most selfless person at the Law School“ and a person “who puts his heart and soul into everything he does.” He was praised for the “positive spirit and approachability” that “set a tone for every organization of which he was a part” and for being a model of someone who “fully embraced the ethic of the citizen lawyer.”
McCandlish graduated from Bates College where he majored in rhetoric and was a member of the Honors Program. During law school, he was Articles Editor of the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, Secretary of the Student Bar Association, and an active member of the George Wythe Society and National Trial Team. He worked summers during law school in the Gloucester County, Va., Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and in the Dallas County, Texas, District Attorney’s Office.
McCandlish also received multiple recognitions at the Awards Ceremony, held on the eve of the Diploma Ceremony. The George Wythe Society selected him as recipient of its Award for Leadership and Service to the Community and he was recognized with a Dean’s Certificate, which is given to select members of the graduating class whose efforts on behalf of the Law School community have been especially outstanding.
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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.