First-year law student Byron Munro is the Pro Bono Community Service Initiative’s April Volunteer of the Month. Munro was chosen as this month’s volunteer because of his deep and exemplary commitment to service during his
first year of law school.
Munro knew from the start that he wanted to get involved with pro bono and community service work while in law school. The College of
Law’s wide range of volunteer opportunities for students made it easy for him
to “hit the ground running.”
In fact, Munro started volunteering before classes even began by participating in the College of Law’s 1L Service Day at Legal Prep Charter Academy where he helped
to organize classroom libraries.
"Being in the city of Chicago, and seeing the disparities, I realized there needed to be a voice, especially for particular demographics," Munro explained.
Munro's commitment to volunteering is evidenced by the variety and consistency of his work. Munro is a regular volunteer with Lawyers in the Classroom, where he teaches lessons on the U.S. Constitution to middle school students at Pritzker Elementary School. He also assists pro se petitioners at the Center for Disability Elder Law’s Guardianship Help Desk and has enthusiastically attended just about every single Donate-a-Day that PBCSI has sponsored this year.
In addition to that, Munro was a participant on the New Orleans service immersion trip with University Ministry this past December and spent his spring break volunteering at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center as part of PBCSI’s Pro Bono "Staycation."
Munro said he has enjoyed all of the volunteer and pro bono work he has done throughout this year but cites the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center as his favorite volunteer site. "Working with the youth and helping them realize that not everyone has given up on them and this is not the end for them was an amazing experience," he said.
Munro is interested in pursuing a career in sports law, but wants to remain committed to pro bono work in whatever he does. In fact, he is interested in creating a pro bono initiative at whatever law firm he ends up and working closely with his colleagues who also want to pursue this work.
"Society as a whole still has a way to go in order to bridge the gap between all of these inequalities," Munro urged. "Unless you are
taking action, nothing is going to happen. I might not be able to change the
world, but I hope I can be a point of inspiration for someone to carry on
whatever legacy they want to leave behind."