Legacy and Responsibility Take Spotlight at Black Law Students Association Symposium

The event brought together students and alumni in a celebration of shared experiences and commitment to the pursuit of justice.

When Judge Eileen Olds ’82 enrolled at William & Mary Law School, she was one of six African American students in her class. With only 13 total African American students at the Law School and no Black faculty, Olds and her fellow African American 1Ls naturally gravitated toward one another. View the gallery.

“We knew instantly that we would have each other’s backs, and we knew that we were the support system that was needed for us to make it here at William & Mary,” Olds said. “And that bond, of having shared the same thing at the same time, of sorority and fraternity of sorts, it still remains today.”

Olds, who was the first African American and first woman appointed to the bench in Virginia’s First Judicial District, gave the opening remarks at the 2025-26 Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Symposium, held at William & Mary Law School on Saturday, April 18. The symposium invited current BLSA members and BLSA alumni to network and learn from one another while celebrating their common bond as part of the Law School and BLSA communities.

In her remarks, Olds addressed the theme of the event: honoring our legacy, shaping our future. She discussed the instances of racial injustice that had inspired her to pursue a legal education and urged the audience to become “influencers” for good.

“Lawyers, I don’t believe, have the right to remain silent,” she said. “Black lawyers matter. We are uniquely positioned to bring our perspectives, especially when talking about who gets to belong and who gets the benefit of protection of our laws.”

Following her address, Olds moderated a panel discussion with Virginia Supreme Court Justice Junius R. Fulton ’85, Judge Brian Smalls and former district court judge Pamela O’Berry. The three shared insights on the responsibility of judges to use the rule of law to establish a more equitable and just society.

The keynote speaker for the symposium was Judge Carla Archie ’95, who serves in North Carolina’s 26 Judicial District. She shared her remarks during the Oliver Hill Scholarship Luncheon, named in honor of the trailblazing civil rights attorney Oliver Hill.

In her address, Archie echoed many of the same ideas shared by Olds, saying, “We are called not just to remember the light. We are called to carry it, bend it, and to reflect it.”

Archie explained that shaping the future requires legal professionals to understand the past and the legacy left by those who came before. She specifically pointed to the example of Oliver Hill, who was instrumental in dismantling segregation and the legal theory of “separate but equal.” His work laid the foundation for others to access opportunities they had previously been denied and he succeeded without the networks and resources available today.

Archie encouraged the attendees not just to remember and show gratitude for the legacy of Hill and other trailblazers, but to become trailblazers themselves. 

“That’s the power of reflection—it reminds us of our roots, the road that we’ve traveled and how far we’ve come,” Archie said. “But reflection alone is not enough, because legacy is not meant to stand still. It’s meant to move forward and to expand. That is your calling—not just to absorb opportunity, but to extend it.

She reminded the audience, particularly the students in attendance, that they can choose to be either passive observers of society or active participants in building something better.

“The future is not something you inherit, it’s something you shape,” she said.

After Archie’s remarks, outgoing BLSA President Breanca White ’27 presented the Oliver Hill Scholarship to Maegan McCane ’28, who will be stepping up as president for the 2026-27 academic year.

The symposium also included an alumni panel on career trajectories, an ethics presentation for CLE credit, a community forum hosted by the Center of Racial & Social Justice and a networking reception.

The event was hosted by the William & Mary Law School chapter of BLSA and sponsored by Kaufman & Canoles, Sands Anderson and the Law School’s Office of Advancement.

Vew a gallery of the 2026 Symposium.