Meet a Colleague: Maureen Edobor Maureen Edobor ‘17L is an Assistant Professor of Law and DeLaney Center Fellow.

By Law Communications
January 24, 2024

Maureen Edobor ‘17L is an Assistant Professor of Law and DeLaney Center Fellow and has worked at W&L Law since July 2023. Maureen is originally from Queens, New York, and lives in Lexington with her dog, Poppy.

Q. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?
I enjoy hanging out with my dog and attempting to teach her new commands and tricks, practicing yoga, doing crossword puzzles, reading fiction, perusing abstract floral art, and traveling.

Q. Book/Podcast/TV Show Recommendation?
Podcast: “Still Processing” hosted by Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham. Though it’s no longer airing, it offers a granular and academic perspective on culture (television, film, books, music, etc.). “Higher Learning” with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay is also great.

Book: It’s so hard to pick just one! “On Beauty” by Zadie Smith, “Know My Name by” Chanel Miller, “Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker, and “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen.

TV Show: GIRLS on HBO. I find it both funny and comforting as it evokes nostalgia for a comparatively simpler time (2012 – January 2017). The soundtrack is also a millennial’s dream!

Q. What courses are you teaching this semester?
Constitutional Law and a voting rights seminar.

Q. What research are you currently working on?
I’m paying close attention to a case in the 8^th Circuit, which recently found that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 contains no private right of action for the first time in 58 years. Practically, this means only the ever-changing Department of Justice can file suit to enforce the VRA, not individual voters or even non-profits like the NAACP, which have brought a stunning 90% of VRA cases!  The case is most certainly headed to SCOTUS, so I’m delving deeply into the VRA’s legislative history regarding the private right of action and federal court cases in which either the state or court has questioned the existence of this right.

Q. Who inspired you to teach?
My college political science professor and thesis advisor, Dr. José Angel Guttiérez. Professor Guttiérez was a firebrand and founding member of the Raza Unida Party, a Mexican-American third-party movement in Texas and California. He brought “shake the table” energy to literally every lecture, opened my eyes to the FBI’s surveillance and infiltration of civil rights groups from the 50s-70s, and showed that one doesn’t have to wear an antiseptic cloak of neutrality to be a credible and good professor.

Q. If you could have coffee or tea with one person, who would it be and why?
Solange Knowles. I find her work (performance art, glassblowing, music, fashion, etc.) deeply inspiring in both its uniqueness and scope; she is a true multi-hyphenate!

Q. What is an accomplishment you are proud of?
I’ve been practicing yoga since 2020, and late last year, after struggling for some time, I finally contorted my body into both a headstand and the eight-angle pose for about 10 seconds. I have not been able to do this twice, but 2024 is full of possibilities.

Q. Favorite food/restaurant/drink?
Something I am very into right now is what the “internet” has named the “Sleepy Girl Mocktail”: tart cherry juice, magnesium, and Topo Chico Lime. It’s a delicious and soothing nightcap!  I also love Joe and the Juice’s Spicy Tunacado.

Q. Most used/enjoyable app on your phone?
My two most used apps are diametrically opposed: the Calm app for meditation and TikTok for keeping up with cultural discourse.

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