About Us
Charles Robert Davidson, JD, PhD, Assistant Dean, Student Professional Advancement and Director, Center for Post-Graduate Opportunities
Prior to coming to John Jay, Dr. Davidson was an Assistant Professor of International Law at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where he taught courses in Public International Law, International Criminal Law and International Law and Development, among other courses. He has taught in numerous law, graduate, and undergraduate programs in the US and abroad in the fields of law and international relations. In addition to his classroom teaching, Dr. Davidson served in various administrative capacities including Director of Undergraduate Programs, Pre-Law Advisor, and Coordinator of International Law Programs.
Concurrent with his teaching, Dr. Davidson worked on a wide variety of law reform projects around the world, primarily in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. He has worked with the Civic Education Project, Open Society Foundation (Budapest), the Ford Foundation, USAID, and other sponsors of international rule of law and legal and higher education support programs. Dr. Davidson was an advisor and special consultant with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa, mentoring and training law professors, young lawyers, and recent law graduates. Dr. Davidson was a member of the US Department of Justice’s Honors Program and worked as an Attorney-Advisor for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In addition to his law degree (JD), Dr. Davidson also holds a BA in French, a MA in Law and Diplomacy and a PhD in International Relations.
Elizabeth Broccoli, JD, Director, Pre-Law Institute
Prior to joining the Pre-Law Institute in 2013, Ms. Broccoli was a staff attorney at Pisgah Legal Services in North Carolina where she represented indigent clients in civil legal matters. Ms. Broccoli graduated from Boston University in 2007 with a double major in History and Political Science and a minor in Religion. In 2010, she earned her Juris Doctor from Tulane University School of Law, where she served as the Senior Managing Editor of the Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality. During law school, Ms. Broccoli interned at the Innocence Project New Orleans, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, and Legal Services of Southern Piedmont. She also studied international criminal law abroad in Amsterdam.
Ms. Broccoli works with students who are preparing for law school and fellowship opportunities. Ms. Broccoli spends her free time with her husband and three young sons.
Jerylle Kemp, JD, MBA, Associate Director, Outreach & Engagement, Pre-Law Institute and Center for Post-Graduate Opportunities
Before joining the Office of Academic Affairs, Ms. Kemp served the College as the first Director of Alumni Relations in the Office of Institutional Advancement, working with senior administrators, faculty and all classes to establish an alumni presence in the College community, increase student-alumni engagement and raise the profile of the College in the alumni community. The five-year “Connect and Reconnect” series which she created and managed received the CUNY Philanthropy Award for excellence in community engagement. Previously, she served as Director of Development and Special Services at the Hunter College Graduate School of Social Work, City University of New York, where she managed development projects, career services and alumni relations for social work professionals.
For ten years, Ms. Kemp was General Counsel of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, a public benefit corporation which was the largest issuer of tax-exempt single family mortgage revenue bonds in New York State. She began her legal career as an associate in the New York office of Cadwalader Wickersham and Taft, specializing in civil litigation, bankruptcy law and copyright law. Ms. Kemp holds a BA in Afro-American Studies with a concentration in Political Science from Yale College, an MBA in Finance from the Wharton Graduate Division of the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Sara Shaw-Clarke, BA, Academic Program Specialist, Pre-Law Institute and Center for Post-Graduate Opportunities
Sara Shaw-Clarke is originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to New York as a teenager. She started her career in higher education at the University of Technology, Jamaica in the Nursing and Law programs and has been at John Jay College for five years working closely with the Vice President of Student Affairs. Sara has worked especially close with the Emergency Funding Program, providing funds for students in need. Her undergraduate studies was completed at Stony Brook University where she completed her Bachelor’s degree. Currently, Sara is pursuing further studies at CUNY School of Professional Studies. She prides herself on being accessible, patient and empathetic. Fun fact – Sara’s hobbies include reading, doing nails and dancing with her five-year-old.
Elton Beckett, MFA, Pre-Law Advisor
Professor Elton Beckett specializes in voice and speech for effective communication in performance and business. Prior to his John Jay appointment, he was a principal in Vocal Solutions, LLC, a speech and media consultancy providing business professionals with speech and media preparation. He has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Speech and Theater at Long Island University – Brooklyn campus, the Collaborative Arts Project (CAP21), a studio of Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and at Theater for the Handicapped.
A designated Practitioner of the Lessac Voice and Body Work by the Lessac Training and Research Institute, current interests include African-American identity in early American theater literature and performance, preservation and codification of African-American dialect in performance as well as adaptation of the Lessac Voice and Speech training to facilitate English Language Learners. These interests emerge from Professor Beckett’s life experiences as a professional actor, dancer, singer, producer, director, theater administrator, voice trainer and teacher. He was a founding member and performer of both the acclaimed Jomandi Production Company in Atlanta and New Perspectives Theater in NYC.
Professor Beckett has performed extensively in television, commercials, voice-over and on stage. He is a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA). Beckett teaches African-American theatre history, Voice for the Professional and Public Speaking as Civic Engagement. Professor Beckett is the 2012 recipient of the John Jay College Distinguished Teaching Prize. As a pre-law advisor, he counsels students preparing for law school.
Victoria Bond, MFA, Personal Statement Advisor
A Lecturer in the English Department, and an instructor in the Pre-Law Institute's Boot Camp program since 2011, Professor Bond has contributed to The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The New Republic, and Al Jazeera America, among other publications and outlets. Co-author of the novel for children Zora and Me, in 2011, Professor Bond won the American Library Association's Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Zora and Me also received an Edgar nomination (The Mystery Writers of America Award) in the juvenile category. In 2016, Professor Bond will begin to serve as an advisor at The Center for Post-Graduate Opportunities.