Cerja connected to the effort through an internship for a commercial real estate firm that helped facilitate Williams’ “Something in the Water” music festival, which is returning to Virginia Beach this year. Since 2020, he has been an advisory board member for Team Yellow Charity, an effort launched by music superstar and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams that aims to reduce educational inequities in underserved communities. Giving back to the community isn’t a new habit for Cerja. “That’s what really drove me to run is so everyone can have that feeling that these were a great three years and you made lifelong friends and had unique experiences, learned new things and became interested in things you would’ve never expected.” His experiences in and outside of the classroom led him to want to make sure every other student enjoyed law school just as much. ![]() “I think class really shaped my broad approach to law school classes and law school material and how I engage in certain subjects,” he said. He has also felt inspired by his classes, citing Contracts with Professor Thomas Nachbar, Evidence with Professor Gregory Mitchell, Environmental Law with Professor Michael Livermore and Constitutional Law with Professor Julia Mahoney. ![]() “And that’s just one example of how UVA really makes you feel like you can really do anything, and you can be empowered to try new things and learn new things.”Ĭerja joined Barristers United, the student soccer team, as a first-year student. “Even though I was just learning and was far behind all the other kids, I never once felt like I didn’t belong,” he said. He tried new activities and hobbies, such as playing in the 1L softball all-star game, and his best friends Keith Stone ’24 and Drew Flanagan ’24 convinced him to play for Barristers United, the student soccer team. “I’ve never been to a school this big with this many resources and obviously the demographics were way different than I was used to,” he said. I felt that law school was the best place to facilitate those skills.”Ĭerja said coming to UVA was a bit of a culture shock at first. “That’s when I realized that certain communities just need more advocates and better advocacy. ![]() “And it was there where I started to write papers and conduct research for professors and started to notice gaps in equity, division of resources,” he said. As an undergraduate, he majored in interdisciplinary studies through the Nusbaum Honors College, while concentrating in political science and psychology. “I see those parallels between the themes of community at an HBCU and the themes of community at UVA, but I just want to make sure that’s as all-encompassing as possible,” he added.Ĭerja, who hails from Virginia Beach, began to think about becoming a lawyer while participating in a legal studies academy at First Colonial High School. We’re trying to push the bar as high as possible for all of us. “There was this mantra that we are better together,” he said, “so you’re not competing with your peers, but you’re collectivizing with your peers and really coming together so everyone can do as well as possible academically, personally, professionally. When Cerja was considering where to go to law school, he wanted a place that would capture the spirit of his historically Black undergraduate school, Norfolk State University. “In my role as SBA president, I want to create an environment at this law school where everyone feels seen, everyone feels heard and everyone feels like they can contribute if they want to and they have someone supporting them - always,” the second-year student said in an interview the day he took office. As the newly elected president of the Student Bar Association, he’ll be able to put that ideal into action.Ĭerja, who officially took office Tuesday, won his election on a platform of making the Law School more welcoming than ever. ![]() Tommy Cerja IV wants every student to have a great time at the University of Virginia School of Law.
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