Tulane Law honors Class of 2025 during Graduate Awards Ceremony
Tulane Law School celebrated two of its most distinguished graduates with top honors during the 2025 Graduation Awards Ceremony on May 16.
Katie Sooyon Chong received the General Maurice Hirsch Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to the law school and broader community. Richard Paul Bordelon was honored with the John Minor Wisdom Award, one of the school’s highest academic accolades.
Both awards are voted on by Tulane Law faculty and represent leadership, service, and academic excellence across three rigorous years of legal study.
Leadership and Advocacy
Chong quickly emerged as a student leader during her time at Tulane. She was elected 1L representative and later served as president of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, where she helped launch a “success series” aimed at guiding first-year students through the demands of legal education.
A standout oral advocate, Chong competed in multiple moot court competitions and served as Chief Justice of the Tulane Moot Court Program during her third year. She was a regional finalist and Best Advocate at the Southwest Black Law Student Association Mock Trial and served as an editor on the Tulane Journal of Law and Sexuality.
Chong’s interest in maritime law was sparked during summer abroad studies in Rhodes, Greece. She will join the New Orleans firm Frilot LLC after graduation.
Academic Excellence and Mentorship
Bordelon, who entered law school after four years as a high school teacher, earned the John Minor Wisdom Award for his academic strength, writing ability, and service to the law school community. The award is named for legendary jurist and Tulane Law alumnus John Minor Wisdom (L’29), and is given annually to a student who has also secured a federal or state clerkship.
Bordelon served as a Harris Fellow mentoring first-year students and was a law clerk for the Tulane University Legal Assistance Program. He argued onto the Moot Court Program, led its Appellate Division, and was a finalist in international competitions at The Hague with the International Criminal Court Appellate team—twice.
This spring, Bordelon won the Tulane Intraschool Appellate Moot Court Competition, earning the distinction of having his name inscribed on the law school’s Moot Court Room marble. He was a student attorney in the Criminal Justice Clinic, earning high praise from his supervisors for his extraordinary depth of knowledge about the criminal legal system which he used to lift up his classmates.
“After reading his casework and training materials, I was stunned to learn he wasn’t on law review,” said Professor Carlotta Lepingwell, Interim Director of the Criminal Justice Clinic. “I see Ricky more as a colleague than a student—and I expect amazing things from him.”
Bordelon holds a B.A. from Fordham University and an M.A. in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. After graduation, he will clerk for Judge Wendy Vitter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, followed by a clerkship with Judge Dana Douglas of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Tulane Law Dean Marcilynn Burke and faculty conferred these and other awards Friday, May 16. This year’s award recipients are:
The Faculty Medal
Colette Elizabeth Puleo
The Dean's Medal
Melanie Anna Frederic
John Robert Greenwalt
Anne M. Kerut
Yael Pasumansky
Colette Elizabeth Puleo
Alexandra Grace Sinha
Samuel John Tomasello
The John Minor Wisdom Award
Richard Paul Bordelon
The Civil Law Studies Award
Melanie Anna Frederic
The George Dewey Nelson Memorial Award
Joseph Walton Reinhardt
The Tulane Tax Institute Award in Taxation
Mary Elizabeth Muslow
The Judge John R. Brown Award in Maritime Law
Alison Mae Odermann
The Edward A. Dodd Jr. Award in Admiralty
Stefanie Marie Andrensek
The Haber Joseph McCarthy Environmental Law Award
John Robert Greenwalt
The Louisiana State Bar Association Corporate and Business Law Section Award
Harrison Andrew Bond
Federal Bar Association Award
Marlena Williams
The General Maurice Hirsch Award
Katie Sooyon Chong
The Louisiana State Bar Association Law Student Pro Bono Award
Laura Ashlyn Derbonne
The Brian McSherry Community Service Award
Caroline Margaret Matkow
The James Wysocki Trial Advocacy Awards
Samuel John Tomasello (Fall 2023)
Dylan Trevor Avery (Spring 2024)
The Clinical Legal Education Outstanding Clinical Student Award
Chad Eric Molnar
The Clinical Legal Education Outstanding Externship Student Award
Victoria Pearl Branch
Max Nathan Award
Henry Alsobrook II
Ifeoluwa Esther Fatoki
The Tulane 34 Award
Katie Sooyon Chong
Jack Martin Dean
Pablo Antonio Gonzales
King Freedom and Justice Award
Samuel John Tomasello
Victoria Pearl Branch
Jackson-Ryan Pro Bono Advocate Award
Lily Elizabeth Barnett
Briley Nicole Chambers
Jenna Mikayl Clayborn
Daryus Shahzad Dorabshaw
Wilson Porter Grant
Lea Maya Kapur
Victor Carlos Miranda
Emma Claire Sackheim
LLM Academic Excellence Award
Stefanie Marie Andrensek
The Moot Court Chief Justice Award
Katie Sooyon Chong
Order of the Coif
Mary Lennis Barlow
Harrison Andrew Bond
Richard Paul Bordelon
Melissa Ashby Byrd
Bailey Marie Chauvin
Brianna J. Daniel-Harkins
Corina Michelle DeFeo
Melanie Anna Frederic
John Robert Greenwalt
Sidra Elizabeth Hanson
Anne M. Kerut
Amanda Sun-Young Kim
Yael Pasumansky
Thomas George Polites Jr.
Colette Elizabeth Puleo
Joseph Walton Reinhardt
Alexandra Grace Sinha
Theodore Louis Todaro
Michael Curtis Wells
Marlena Williams
Order of the Barristers
Richard Paul Bordelon
Margaret Sarah Brown
Katie Sooyon Chong
Jenna Mikayl Clayborn
Sara Elizabeth Edwards
Christopher Felipe Iglesia
Caroline Lois Mitchell
Stephen Ryan Privat
August Paul Simien
L. M. Woo
