Monica Hof Wallace, No Man Is An Island Award Winner

Monica Hof Wallace is the Dean Marcel Garsaud, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.  Professor Wallace joined the law faculty in 2002 after practicing at the New Orleans firm of Correro Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley & Casteix (now Fishman Haygood et al).  Professor Wallace graduated first in her class at Loyola College of Law and while attending law school, served on the Law Review and as Chairman of the Moot Court Program.  After graduation, Professor Wallace served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Honorable Barry Ted Moskowitz of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.  Professor Wallace is a frequent speaker and author in the areas of family law, successions, donations and trusts, and community property, all of which she teaches at the College of Law. She also lectures on Family Law for Barbri nationally.  Professor Wallace is an active member of many professional organizations, including the Louisiana Bar Association, the Louisiana Law Institute, and the St. Thomas More Inn of Court, and she is an active Fellow for Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers and the Louisiana Bar Foundation.  She has received numerous awards for her teaching, scholarship, and public service and was named a CityBusiness Leader in Law for 2017.

Speaker: Donald Cravins, Jr.

Don Cravins, Jr. serves as the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the Washington Bureau. Cravins leads the development of the National Urban League’s policy, research, and advocacy agenda, while expending the organization’s impact and influence inside the Capital Beltway.

Since 1998, Cravins has been a practicing attorney and a member of the Louisiana Bar Association. In 2004, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. At that time, he and his father, State Senator Don Cravins, Sr., made Louisiana history by becoming the first and only father and son to serve in the Louisiana Legislature at the same time. In 2006, Cravins was elected to the Louisiana Senate for the seat vacated by his father. During his tenure in the Louisiana Senate, Cravins was heavily involved in post-Hurricane Katrina issues as the Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee and was an active member of the Juvenile Justice Commission of Louisiana.

In January of 2009, Cravins left the Louisiana Legislature to serve as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship where he oversaw the legislative activities of the Committee. In January of 2013, Cravins began serving as Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.

In addition to his duties at the National Urban League, Cravins is an adjunct professor at George Washington University where he teaches Prosecution and Litigation in Intellectual Property and Constitutional Law. He also serves as a captain in the District of Columbia Army National Guard Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps with the 352nd Legal Operations Detachment.

Cravins is a native of Southwest Louisiana and a graduate of Teurlings Catholic High and Louisiana State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He attended Southern University Law Center where he graduated with honors. He was presented the Southern University Law Center Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 and named a 2015 LSU Legend by the LSU Black Alumni Chapter.

Don attended LYS in 1988 and 1989 and served as a counselor from 1990-1994. He was an Assistant Program Director in 1995 and served as Program Director in 1996 and 1997. Don has also been named to the LYS Hall of Fame and he serves as a member of the LYS Advisory Committee.

He is married to Attorney Yvette Puckett Cravins and they have three children, Dominique Claire, Trey and Chloe Denise. Yvette serves as Chief of Staff for Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri. Cravins and his family reside in Opelousas, Louisiana and in Washington, DC.

Speaker: Pete Croughan

Pete Croughan is Policy Director at the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). LDH is the state’s largest agency with a budget of $14 billion, encompassing the Offices of Public Health, Behavioral Health, Aging and Adult Services, Developmental Disabilities, and the Medicaid Program. He works with the Secretary and Senior Staff to spearhead quality improvement and policy initiatives that span multiple agencies within the department. He also researches and produces policy analyses for internal quality improvement, the governor’s office, and external stakeholders. Current initiatives include addressing Hepatitis C drug pricing, reducing opioid overdoses, exploring individual market stabilization policies, simplifying preferred drug lists and pharmaceutical requirements, designing a Medicaid expansion study, and analyzing the impact of federal health reform on Louisiana.

Originally from Crowley in Southwest Louisiana, Pete graduated from Yale University with a major in History of Science and Medicine. He then served as a Health Policy Research Associate at PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for two years where he helped academic clinicians increase the real-world impact of their research. He then completed three years at University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine. In those three years he served on the Admissions Interview Committee, worked with Mental Illness Among Us to raise awareness, and was elected to represent all 3000 UCSF students as President of the Graduate and Professional Student Association. He is currently on leave from medical school to serve his home state in this role. 

Monday Group of the Day and Awards

As Head Table, we judge all of the home group competitions during LYS.  We’re happy to announce some of the first results!

Here are the results for the Skit Competition…

1st Place: Paleontologists

2nd Place: Reptiles

3rd Place: Velociraptors

We also announced the winners of the Color, Mascot, Symbol, Theme Presentation…

1st Place: Shovels

2nd Place: Reptiles

3rd Place: Velociraptors

And last but not least, after a crazy day of cheering and traveling, we finally announced Group of the Day!

3rd Place: Stegosaurus

2nd Place: Volcanoes

 MONDAY GROUP OF THE DAY: Herbivores

“WE LOVE IT! WE LOVE IT! HEY HEY, WE LOVE IT!”

Looking forward to a SUPER GREAT day tomorrow!
Head Table