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The Office of Academic Engagement connects students to academic resources and support at Emory Law as well as the larger Emory University campus.

Please call our office or visit the Current Student Guide Page for additional information.


Katherine Brokaw, Assistant Dean

Katherine Brokaw
Katherine Brokaw is the Assistant Dean for Academic Engagement & Student Success for Emory Law. She graduated from Princeton University with an AB in Classics, then worked as the principal speechwriter for the governor of New Jersey before attending Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, articles editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, and a teaching and research assistant to Dean Jack Greenberg, former general counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, in his course on Civil Rights and Social Change. Dean Brokaw received her JD from Columbia in 1990 and clerked for United States District Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. in the Southern District of New York. She practiced at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and King & Spalding in Atlanta for several years, in the field of commercial litigation.

Dean Brokaw has also served in many capacities on various boards and State Bar of Georgia committees, including the Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession, and the Committee on Attorney Wellness. She has a lifelong interest in civil rights and civic engagement. Among other things, she helped Emory Law’s Moot Court Society launch its annual Civil Rights and Liberties moot court competition, the first of its kind, and she was the founding chair of the Atlanta Committee for the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, making Atlanta one of the first regions to offer this award to high school students. Dean Brokaw is an active volunteer with Election Protection and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She also spent five years as an Attorney Assistant to Georgia’s Board of Bar Examiners before coming to Emory Law.

Email: kbrokaw@emory.edu

Phone: 404.727.6809

To make an appointment with Dean Brokaw, please email Carma Adams, at carma.adams@emory.edu


Kirsten Schaetzel, English Language Specialist

Kirsten Schaetzel
Kirsten Schaetzel is the English Language Specialist at the law school. She does workshops and has individual student appointments on aspects of English language and American culture. After receiving her doctorate from Boston University, she worked for ten years in Asia. After returning to the US, she began working with international law students at Georgetown Law and has continued to enjoy working with law students after moving to Atlanta two years ago. Dr. Schaetzel works with international Emory Law students across all degree programs.

Email: kirsten.schaetzel@emory.edu

Phone: 404.727.7096


Bonita Young, Senior Academic Advisor

Bonita Young
Bonita Young graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in African Studies. She holds a JD from the University of Florida and was previously a staff attorney for Three Rivers Legal Services, where she represented indigent clients focusing on civil issues such as housing, consumer, and family law.

Young was elected to serve the 8th Judicial Circuit on the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors, where she created programs aimed at quality of life and diversity initiatives within the Florida Bar. She began her career in higher education as a senior academic attorney for LexisNexis and later joined BarBri as a senior staff attorney preparing students in DC and Maryland for the Bar Exam.

Email:bonita.young2@emory.edu

Phone: 404.727.3111