Created in 2016 by the late Don Racheter, the Racheter MAPLA Impact Award recognizes a MAPLA region pre-law advisor who has demonstrated dedicated advising of pre-law students and who has made valued contributions to the profession of pre-law advising.
2024 Nominations are open now – please submit your nomination by April 15, 2024.
The award criteria are as follows:
1) The nominee must be a current member of MAPLA (i.e. no posthumous nominations/awards).
2) The nominee must have served as a pre-law advisor for a minimum of ten years.
3) The nominee must be nominated by someone other than themselves; nominators are free to nominate multiple individuals (please use separate nomination form for each individual).
4) In addition to work with students, the nominee must have served the MAPLA membership through activities such as:
a) Presentations about pre-law advising at regional APLA, PLANC, or academic/professional conferences;
b) Publications about pre-law advising topics in professional journals;
c) Service on the MAPLA board, its committees, or its task forces;
d) Service on the PLANC board, its committees, or its task forces;
e) Mentoring of new pre-law advisors;
f) Hosting MAPLA Caravan or Drive-In Conference stops;
g) Staffing the advising table at LSAC Forums;
h) Service on the board, committees, or task forces of organizations which advance objectives supportive of pre-law advising such as the American Mock Trial Association, the American Moot Court Association, the American Mock Mediation Association, etc.;
i) Other contributions which the nominator believes are relevant and significant.
Previous winners of the Racheter MAPLA Impact Award:
2016 — Don Racheter
2018 — Mariella Mecozzi
2019 — Gwyn Wallander
2020 — Jamie Thomas-Ward
2021 — RJ Holmes-Leopold
2022 — Scott Hendrickson
2023 — Martha Kirby