MEET MANUEL

Manuel is a rising third-year law student at the University of Michigan Law School. A first descendant of the Gila River Indian Community, he is only the third Native American student to ever take on a position on the Michigan Law Review, and is the first Native student to ever serve on its editorial board in his current capacity as an Executive Online Editor. His dedication to amplifying Native student scholarship became central to his mission on MLR, and he knew that the role of Writing Competition Administrator would provide an outlet for his service and contribute directly to that goal.

Prior to matriculating to law school in Ann Arbor, Manuel graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Anthropology, where he worked in numerous museums repatriating ancestors and artifacts back to O’odham Tribes in Arizona. While completing his degree from Arizona State, he also maintained a professional career as a 911 Dispatcher for his family’s Tribe, Gila River, which informed his decision to begin a career on behalf of Tribal clients. As a leader of Michigan Law’s Native American Law Students Association chapter, Manuel has assisted numerous law school organizations, including the law school administration, understand the ramifications of federal Indian law in the greater American public, prioritized pro bono services for indigent Tribal clients in partnership with the Michigan Indian Legal Services, and situated the chapter as one of the most successful and resourceful of its kind in the country.