Published on October 31, 2018 by Morgan Black  
Hopper ALI Photo
In October, third-year law student Emily Hopper was asked to speak before the Alabama Law Institute's Committee on Family Law and Adoption. This committee is tasked with drafting proposed statutes on behalf of the Alabama legislature and is currently working on a bill to address parental rights to children conceived as the result of sexual assault. In her second year, Hopper authored a Law Review paper examining Congress's Rape Survivor Child Custody Act, a federal bill aimed at financially incentivizing states to terminate the parental rights of rapists. Hopper shared her research with the committee and has been asked to continue to provide feedback as the committee finalizes a proposed bill for the State of Alabama.
 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.