
Texas Law’s chapter of the national American Constitution Society for Law and Policy student chapter has been honored with the organization’s Programming Award, and the group’s board will be recognized on June 11 during the ACS National Convention Series virtual meeting.
In addition, Ellie Metni ’26, who served as the chapter’s co-president for the 2024-25 school year, has been selected as a 2025 Next Generation Leader, one of 31 law students across the country being honored. The NGL program recognizes and supports law school students who have shown exceptional leadership in their work with their ACS student chapters.
ACS describes itself as “the nation’s foremost progressive legal organization,” and boasts of having close to 200 student and lawyer chapters, along with individual judges, scholars, and elected officials as members.
The group presents awards annually to the most active and engaged chapters at law schools across the country. According to the organization’s announcement, these chapters “helped to expand and strengthen the… legal network in their communities, shape the debate, and promote a progressive vision of the Constitution at their universities.”
The Texas Law chapter—which is governed by a Board of Directors that includes Metni, her co-president Travis Hueber ’26 and Events Coordinator Zach Gilstrap ’26—works “to revitalize and transform the current legal debate to a more respectful vision that values human dignity, protection of individual rights and liberties, and access to justice.”
“We believe that law should be a force to improve the lives of all Texans, not just those who have the ability to meaningfully advocate for themselves,” says Metni ’26. “Our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that… strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all.”
This past year, Texas Law’s ACS chapter sponsored or co-sponsored eight programs and six alternative curriculum events. Programs covered topics such as the Supreme Court term, the 2024 election, civil rights, immigration, reproductive rights, and capital punishment. Speakers included several Texas Law professors, as well as representatives of the news organization Texas Tribune and the Austin shelter Casa Marianella. Co-sponsors of select programs included Law Students for Black Lives, the Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights, OUTLaw, and the Plaintiffs’ Advocacy & Litigation Society.
“Why Your Vote Matters,” featuring guest speaker and former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, was the largest ACS event of the year with approximately 250 attendees. “His energy was contagious, the crowd’s enthusiasm was palpable, and his story about the history of the Voting Rights Act was very compelling,” recalls Metni.
She describes the attendees as a mix of chapter members, law school faculty and staff, and “folks who routinely disagree with the premise of progressive lawyering! It really brought the law school community together.”
The ideological and experiential diversity at events is a big positive for Gilstrap, who hopes “that attendees, regardless of their political views, can come away from our events having heard cogent and challenging presentations of progressive viewpoints on major issues.”
That was surely the case during this award-winning season for ACS and its leadership.
The group looks forward to returning in fall of 2025 with a similarly fun and challenging slate of opportunities for the Texas Law community.
ACS is one of nearly 40 student organizations at Texas Law that provide opportunities for connection, leadership, and socializing.