Photo courtesy of Kawkab El-Moussaoui
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Wayne Law student Kawkab (Kay) El-Moussaoui’s goal is to work wherever people need her most.
“As a Muslim, I believe I'm a servant and I'm here on a mission—to serve, empower, and educate,” she says. “I’ll continue to celebrate marginalized communities, and anyone oppressed.
“If my passion leads me to Congressional floors, I would welcome that challenge. Rather than speak for the voiceless, I’ll advocate and ensure they have a safe space to share their own stories.”
She will get a taste of the Congressional Oversight world this summer, interning for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Capitol Hill.
Last summer, she was a legal extern in the Civil Rights, and Criminal Trial & Appeals Divisions of the Michigan Department of Attorney General where she performed legal research and analysis to assist the Hate Crimes & Domestic Terrorism Unit in convicting high-profile terrorists.
And she and fellow 2L student Dominica Convertino were recently named as two of only 38 Fellows serving with the American Bar Association’s Legal Education Police Practices Consortium (LEPPC) during the Winter 2022 semester. The LEPPC will examine and address legal issues in policing and public safety, including conduct, oversight, and the evolving nature of police work, leveraging the ABA’s expertise and that of participating ABA accredited law schools to collaborate on projects to develop and implement better police practices throughout the country.
“Policing poverty is a major issue in our community that we must address,” El-Moussaoui says. “I’m honored to be selected as one of two fellows in Michigan.”
El-Moussaoui’s academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in political science and her second major in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience (BCN) from the University of Michigan.
“In order to persuade or convince and educate individuals on certain topics or issues that contradict their biases, I believe we must first learn and understand their point of view,” she says. “Neuroscience provides the skillsets to study and understand how the brain processes and operates to execute in the most effective ways possible. It teaches you how to deliver messages for them to be accepted and others to find them receptive. Political science taught me the different functions of the government and how policy change is necessary to encourage change.”
El-Moussaoui then headed to Wayne Law on a full-ride Damon J. Keith Scholarship. Now approaching the completion of her 2L year, she notes the school provided an opportunity to build a tight-knit community and network that she considers as family.
“It allowed me the opportunity to join extraordinary internships and make policy changes at the law school,” she says.
A junior member of Moot Court, and vice president of student affairs for the Women’s Law Caucus, she also serves as president for the school’s Muslim Law Student Association, and is excited about the first Wayne Law Annual Ramadan Iftar in April.
“My board members and I have worked extensively to make Wayne Law more accepting to Muslims and not only tolerable,” she says.
Currently working in the school’s Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic, and volunteering at the Southwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center, El-Moussaoui said her particular legal interest is in immigration and civil rights.
“In the near future I hope to focus more on policy changes that affect marginalized communities,” she says. “The past several years we’ve turned the American Dream into an American nightmare. We must uphold the values this country had and remember this country was built on the backs of slaves, indigenous people, and immigrants.”
A Detroit native, El-Moussaoui enjoys the diversity, food, and history of Motor City.
In her leisure time, she relaxes with swimming and kickboxing and says that her sister Noor is her role model and biggest supporter.
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