Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales will deliver a keynote address at an event marking the launch of Latinés United for Change, Hope, and Advocacy (LUCHA), a new student-led organization seeking to support the Hispanic and Latiné legal community at the Nashville School of Law (NSL).
LUCHA, recently founded by NSL students Ronal Bueso and Jesus “Jesse” Gonzalez, is a “community of students committed to supporting one another, building bridges across law school, and advancing justice through advocacy, education, and service.”
The inaugural event for LUCHA will be held next Thursday, September 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 400 at NSL.
Gonzales, who is also a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and currently serves as Dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law at Belmont University College of Law, will deliver a speech at the inaugural event.
On Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, LUCHA founding members Bueso and Gonzalez said they were motivated to form the organization considering the low Latiné representation at NSL and the overall lack of organizations that promote Hispanic culture.
“While there are student-led organizations on campus, no one really promoted the idea of a Hispanic culture or a Latino ancestry. It gives us a place to have common ground with one another, but really more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to showcase what our culture is about, especially this coming month of September because it’s Hispanic Heritage Month,” Gonzalez explained.
“It gives us an opportunity to come together, to network, to build our leadership skills, and more importantly, to give us a space to share ideas and see how we can contribute to our student body positively,” he added.
Bueso said that juggling school, work, and demanding coursework like case briefing and legal writing can feel overwhelming—like a never-ending rollercoaster—and explained how important it is to have a supportive community within law school to help with that pressure.
Noting how there are other student organizations, Bueso said he and Gonzalez saw gaps in current programming and representation, especially for Hispanic and Latiné students.
“While we do have other student organizations on campus, we felt like there were some gaps that needed to be filled in with different programming and initiatives. This is where LUCHA is not only open to amplify the voices of Hispanic and Latiné students, but it’s also there for all of the students that want to participate,” he said.
Bueso said LUCHA has been supported by NSL leadership, especially President and Dean William J. Koch, Jr., who is a former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice; Assistant to the Dean Susan Dulin; Assistant Dean for Administration Elizabeth McDonald; and Legal Writing Coach Dr. Thorunn McCoy.
Further, Bueso said LUCHA has reached out to Hispanic student organizations at Vanderbilt and Belmont Law and has since formed relationships with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and Nashville Hispanic Bar Association, which is helping sponsor the launch event next week.
All NSL students, staff, and faculty are invited to attend LUCHA’s inaugural event next week.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Alberto Gonzales” by Alberto Gonzales and “Nashville School of Law” is by Nashville School of Law.
