The University of Oklahoma College of Law Oklahoma International Law Society ("OILS") exists for the purpose of educating students about international law and its impact on policy, business, and human rights and preparing students for careers in an inter-connected world. OILS promotes its purpose through hosting internationally recognized guest speakers, organizing awareness raising events, providing a mentorship program for foreign exchange and international students, and hosting international cultural exchange events. OILS is a very active student group on campus and was awarded the Student Bar Association’s Best Student Group Award for the College of Law in 2015.
OILS hosted a breakfast reception for U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Stephen Mathias. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him to this position in 2010. Mathias opened the breakfast with remarks relating to hot international law topics facing the United Nations before engaging in a Q-and-A style discussion with OILS members.
The Oklahoma International Law Society (OILS) hosted Kristin McGeeney, the Senior Legal Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, as well as Dan Mahanty, the U.S. State Department’s director of the Office of Security and Human Rights in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and former head of the Office of Middle East affairs in DRL. OILS greeted them with a welcome reception at Blackbird upon their arrival. The next day Ms. McGeeney met with students for breakfast and dinner to discuss her experiences using international law to promote freedom of assembly and expression in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia while Mr. Mahanty discussed the integration of human rights considerations in U.S. government security policies throughout the world. Professor Joshua Landis, Middle East expert from the OU College of International Studies, also participated in the dinner session. In addition, OILS hosted an international law and affairs “speed mentoring” luncheon in which students asked career-related questions in small group meetings with each of the mentors, Ms. McGeeney, Mr. Mahanty, and Professor Aswad.
OILS hosted a breakfast and panel discussion with leading experts in the field of business and human rights. They heard the reflections of Arvind Ganesan (Oklahoma Native and Director of Human Rights Watch’s Business and Human Rights Program in Washington DC), Amy Lehr (an Associate in Foley Hoag’s unique Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice in Washington D.C.), and Mark Wielga (Director of Nomogaia, a non-profit think-tank devoted to business and human rights in Colorado). The students in Professor Aswad’s International Business & Human Rights course engaged in a Q&A session with the speakers about their research projects.
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