Student Profile Following in the footsteps of the past BY JACQUELINE J. HARRINGTON Kate Huschke Kate Huschke’s family tree is planted deep with roots of success. The product of a family lineage of attorneys, she is no stranger to the law, hard work and determination. Although Huschke has never met her great-great-grandfather, Phillip E. Griffiths, ’33, she partially credits his life for her decision to become a lawyer and attend MSU-DCL. “My great-great-grandfather passed away in 1962 before I was born, but his legacy lived on through stories told to me by my grandfather and grandmother,” said Huschke, currently a second-year law student. Phillip E. Griffiths, Kate Huschke’s great-great-grandfather whose legacy has been passed down through the generations, was part of her inspiration to become a lawyer. Griffiths was born in Guelf, Ontario, Canada on May 7, 1879. During early adulthood, he served as a corporal in the Spanish American War. In 1900, he moved to Detroit where he married and raised two daughters, one of whom is Huschke’s great-grandmother. While in Detroit, Griffiths established a prosperous furniture store but lost the entire business during the Great Depression. He then decided to change his career path and became a law student at Detroit College of Law. “My great-great-grandfather was a very dedicated man,” said Huschke. “He worked various menial jobs to fund his education, completed law school when he was 54 years old and worked as the sole practitioner of a modest firm in Detroit for many years.” Like her great-great-grandfather, Huschke is no stranger to hard work. In addition to being a full-time law student, she is associate editor of the Michigan State DCL Law Review, clerk of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, and a member of the Michigan and American Student Bar Associations. MSU-DCL was a different place during the time Griffiths attended law school. “I cannot imagine attending law school in the 1930s,” said Huschke. “Technology is one asset I have in my MSU-DCL education that my great-great-grandfather never imagined having.” With the birth of computers, students now rely on LexisNexis™ and other computer software to learn case law and prepare for exams. In addition, today’s students have the option of focusing their studies and practice on more than general law; Huschke plans to concentrate her practice in international law. “I truly enjoy MSU-DCL and hope stories about my life will one day influence my great-great-grandchild’s decision to study law and attend MSU-DCL.”