The Agosto Justice Center for Leadership and Empowerment at South Texas College of Law Houston selects two third-year students as fellows each semester. Cory Williams, who graduated in May 2025, and Desmin Johnson, who will receive her diploma in December 2025, were the Agosto Justice Center’s most recent fellows. They both took time to reflect upon their experiences and share their thoughts.
Cory Williams
Originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Cory Williams moved to Houston to attend South Texas Law. “I love Houston and hope to stay after graduation,” she said. She recently accepted a fellowship position with Houston Volunteer Lawyers and will be preparing to take the bar exam.
A second-career law student who was previously a public librarian, Williams wants to continue to have a positive impact on the community by practicing public interest law. “I plan to stay in public service and possibly get into more policy impact work,” she said.
Williams’ research as a fellow involved tracking changes in inclusion policies at major corporations before and after George Floyd’s murder, as well as the recent changes implemented by the current administration’s executive orders. She also examined the benefits of diversity policies at law firms and in the legal profession, for both attorneys and clients.
Becoming a fellow at the Agosto Justice Center was a way of getting involved with important issues and “advocating for the importance of opportunity,” she said.
Happy to gain public service experience while finishing law school, Williams feels her future work as an attorney will benefit from her experience with the center. “During the fellowship, I built on having an open mind and being curious about how experiences shape people’s lives. Being curious without being judgmental helps inform and guide research, which can be used to advocate for fair policy and representation,” she said.
Desmin Johnson
As a first-year student, Desmin Johnson was impressed by the panels, presentations, and workshops sponsored by the Agosto Justice Center. When the opportunity to become a fellow emerged, she knew she wanted to be a part of “something so important,” she said.
“I admire and look up to Assistant Dean Donna Davis and Professor Shelby Moore, and the opportunity to work alongside them and learn from them was too good to pass up,” she said.
A traditional law student who took a gap year after graduating from Texas A&M University, Johnson feels the most meaningful lesson she will take with her as a former Agosto Justice Center fellow is the understanding that every perspective holds value.
“It is our differences that enrich the legal profession, and whether we are just beginning or are seasoned practitioners, we have a responsibility to champion the qualities that make us diverse,” she said.
Johnson, who will be working at a Houston employment law firm after she graduates in December, completed two major projects as a fellow. She wrote a memorandum on diversity efforts in the legal and professional fields and the impact on those efforts by Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, a case that challenged race-conscious affirmative action policies in college admissions.
She also wrote a position paper about the multi-layered impact of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, a case that eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion. “The papers were challenging to write because they involve such important topics that deserve the utmost care and respect when addressing them,” Johnson said.
Encouraging all who are interested in the Agosto Justice Center’s fellowship program to apply, Johnson’s advice is, “Go for it! The work done at the center is work that matters and being a part of it for even one semester is the greatest experience.”
