You'll find Wesleyan women excelling in every field, but especially in the fields of law, politics, civil service, journalism, the non-profit sector and social work. Many Wesleyan women in law and politics start with an undergraduate emphasis in political science and go on to law school or graduate study in political science.  Our alumnae have attended such prestigious institutions as Emory, Vanderbilt, Harvard, Duke, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, the London School of Economics -- just to name a few.

Our graduates include the vice president for legal affairs at the University of Georgia; an assistant treasurer for the Educational Finance Division of Chase Manhattan Bank; the Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas; a state judge; and an attorney at the Georgia Public Defenders Office. Wesleyan's President Ruth Knox majored in English, graduated from UGA's law school, and practiced law for more than twenty-five years in Atlanta before returning to her alma mater as its first alumna president. Read her story!

Meet Lindsay Rosenquist ’06 who majored in international relations and minored in business and economics. Find out how she intends to influence change nationally by looking internationally. Or, meet Morgan Felts '07, a homegrown Georgia girl ready to take on the world. Since high school, she has seen her future from a global perspective and has known that she wanted to choose a profession where she could be internationally based. Globally minded and inspired toward positive change, this Wesleyan woman is just getting started.

Meet a few more of Wesleyan's Women of Law & Politics....

Bethany Kriznik '05
B.A. History/Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, Wesleyan College
M.Sc. Public Policy and Administration, London School of Economics

As a junior at Wesleyan, Bethany landed an invaluable internship with the Democratic National Convention. Currently, she lives in London and is pursuing a position in the public affairs and consultancy field. Read her story!

Sarah Chervenak '93
A.B. History/Political Science, Biology Minor, Wesleyan College
J.D., Cumberland School of Law, Samford University
Graduate FBI Academy

On 9/11/01 following the worst terrorist attack on American soil, one of Wesleyan's finest was there to help with the subsequent investigation because of her job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assigned to the Washington Field Office (WFO) for the past six years, Sarah Chervenak '93 helped with the investigation at the Pentagon -- responding to the Pentagon following the attack, conducting interviews and assisting in searches which led to arrests.

After receiving her law degree in 1996, Sarah began four months of training at the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia, in March 1997. Her training, though different from a Wesleyan classroom, was equally demanding. Not only did the training include classwork -- in ethics, behavioral sciences, interviewing and legal issues -- it also included firearms, physical fitness/defense tactics and "practicals" (conducting arrest scenarios, raids, crime scene preservation and more).

"I believe that my Wesleyan experiences and education better enabled me to attain my goal of joining the FBI, " Chervenak says. Having graduated from the FBI Academy in July 1997, Chervenak was assigned to the WFO on an international terrorism squad. She was deployed to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 1998, in response to the U.S. Embassy bombing there. In Africa for nearly three weeks, she conducted investigations with nearly 200 other FBI agents.

"Wesleyan provided me with a wonderful education," Chervenak says, "in a setting that promoted self confidence, self awareness and intellectual and emotional growth."


Geovette Washington '89
B.A., summa cum laude, Wesleyan College
J.D., Duke University School of Law
Lead notes editor of the Alaska Law Review

A member of the Washington D.C. and Georgia Bars, Geovette Washington is a leader in the true sense of the word. She serves on the board of trustees for the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia while she maintains her law practice with Baach Robinson & Lewis, PLLC, in our nation's capital.

Washington specializes in civil and commercial litigation with an emphasis on complex insurance coverage and the representation of professionals. She was part of the team of lawyers who represented former Vice President Al Gore in the litigation concerning Florida's vote count in the 2000 presidential election. During the last six years, Washington has represented the London Insurance Market in numerous complex coverage disputes with major industrial concerns.

Prior to joining the D.C. law firm, Washington served as special assistant to the assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel and as law clerk to the Honorable Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Phaedra Parks '93
B.A., Wesleyan College
J.D., University of Georgia
Managing Partner, The Parks Group

In 2005, Atlanta Magazine featured Phaedra Parks '93 as one of the Georgia Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" and in the same year Jezebel magazine recognized this Wesleyan grad as an "Attorney of Distinction." In 2007, she not only was featured as a top young lawyer in Georgia but also graced the cover of Atlanta Magazine's specialty publication Super Lawyers. Phaedra is managing partner for the Parks Group, where her entertainment practice focuses on contract negotiation, civil litigation and criminal defense. She has served as a legal analyst for NBC and Fox News, not to mention being recognized nationally on Entertainment Tonight, Celebrity Justice and Extra for her handling of several high-profile clients and cases. Read her story!

Sonya Shannon '07
B.A., Wesleyan College
Case Manager, International Rescue Committee

Sonya Shannon returned to school as a full-time nontraditional student and graduated May 2007 from Wesleyan with a major in international relations. She headed to Atlanta after graduation to intern as a case manager at the International Rescue Committee. “Helping people,” she said, “is just something I really enjoy doing.”

Although she may be just starting out in a new career, Sonya has already received national recognition in her field of choice. This  Wesleyan Encore student did not hesitate to provide aid to a man whose car veered off the road in front of her one morning in February while commuting to school. Her heroism inspired thousands locally through an article in The Macon Telegraph and news coverage on 13WMAZ. In May, her story resonated with a national audience when she received a VITA Wireless Samaritan Award from The Wireless Foundation.  Read her story!