Law Student Returns to Camden to Make a Difference, Starts with Safe Halloween Event

When Rob Ransom attended LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, he didn’t see himself as being any different from his peers. After attending Howard University, where he studied political science and community development, the Willingboro native learned to think otherwise.

“At LEAP, I thought my friends were the same as me. I lived a half hour away, but we lived in very different worlds. My friends may have had a great school and great families, but they weren’t all living in safe environments,” he says.

Determined to make a difference in the city he’s come to love, Ransom enrolled at Rutgers Law-Camden. Ultimately, he aims to assist in Camden’s development in a sustained way that benefits all residents.

“I love Camden. It has tons of potential,” Ransom notes. “I was told that to really promote change though, you have to study policy, and law school gives you that tangible grip on policy.”

Ransom has already acted on that ambition by securing opportunities while at Rutgers Law—Camden. In the summer of his 1L year, he interned for U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno, a 1978 alumnus of Rutgers Law—Camden, and clerked at the law firm Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoades. Next summer, he will clerk at Archer & Greiner, joining his mentor Lloyd Freeman, a 2007 alumnus of the law school. The Rutgers Law—Camden student said this learning outside of the classroom made him think more like an attorney and made him more excited for law school to begin again.

Now a second-year law student at Rutgers–Camden, Ransom serves as president of the Black Law Students’ Association, which promotes the educational, professional, and social needs and goals of law students of color. Ransom is especially energetic this year for the organization’s annual service event: Safe Halloween.

“All kids should have a right to enjoy their childhoods and Halloween can be a big part of that,” he says. “Safe Halloween has been BLSA’s biggest service event, thanks to the generous donations from the law school’s administration and faculty.”

As a safe alternative to trick-or-treating for children of Camden, Safe Halloween, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m., provides music, food, games, entertainment, and candy for approximately 200 Camden City children and their families.

Donations are still needed for this year’s event, including additional funds for food, entertainment, arts and crafts materials as well as candy.

Ransom adds that attending Safe Halloween and interacting with Camden kids and their families is also a rewarding experience. “This might be one of the only opportunities these kids have to be around attorneys. Small interactions like these can have a meaningful impact.”

To learn more about BLSA or Safe Halloween, including how to make a donation, please contact BLSA Secretary Naomi Burris at nlb63@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.