CARLISLE, Pa. — Bekah Saidman-Krauss, associate dean for admissions and financial aid at Penn State Dickinson Law, has been selected as the recipient of the AALS Section on Pre-Law and Admission to Law School’s Spotlight Award. This award is the section’s highest honor and recognizes an individual who demonstrates a sustained history of performing beyond their job responsibilities, seeking opportunities to support the development of the legal education profession, and working to create structural and systemic change in an effort to increase access to legal education and diversify the legal profession.
“A careful and caring communicator, Bekah strives to create meaningful connections with colleagues. Those individuals lucky enough to know Bekah and work alongside her find themselves elevated by her passion, her professionalism, and her positivity,” said nominator Rebecca Schreiber, director of admissions and financial aid at Dickinson Law.
The Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School focuses on bettering legal education and increasing diversity in the legal profession, promotes the communication of ideas, interests, and activities among members and makes recommendations on matters of interest touching on education prior to law school admission, the advising and counseling of pre-law students and the law school admissions process.
Mimi Huang, chair of the Nomination Committee, noted that Saidman-Krauss “inspired us all with her passion and dedication to improving access to legal education and creating meaningful communities for underrepresented populations. We are grateful for your efforts to help advance the Section’s mission of increasing diversity within the legal profession.”
Bekah Saidman-Krauss earned her Bachelor of Arts in comparative religion, cum laude, at Smith College, where she also served as a research assistant for the Chair of the Program for the Study of Women and Gender.
After graduating from Smith, she worked as legal assistant at two different multinational law firms in New York before returning to Pennsylvania to attend Penn State Dickinson Law. After graduating, Saidman-Krauss worked as a judicial intern for Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; as a summer associate for Pepper Hamilton (now Troutman Pepper) in Philadelphia; and as a judicial extern for Judge Yvette Kane of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
In 2013, Saidman-Krauss returned to her alma mater to serve as Dickinson Law’s head admissions and financial aid administrator. In 2016, she received Penn State’s Outstanding Service Award from the University’s Commission for LGBTQ Equity in recognition of her efforts to improve the climate of diversity and inclusion for LGBTQ-identified individuals. From 2017 to 2019, she served as a member of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Subcommittee of the Law School Admissions Council’s Diversity Committee. As part of her service on the SOGI Subcommittee, Saidman-Krauss helped plan the inaugural LSAC Equality Conference: Building, Maintaining, and Promoting LGBTQ-Inclusive Law Schools, which took place in 2018. She has also spoken nationally on best practices for LGBTQ inclusivity in law schools.