Photograph: Alumna meeting with student.

Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD)

2022 Recipients

Photograph: Whitney Casement.Whitney Casement, ba '09, jd '12, started her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for Kansas, serving in that position for five years. She has been in private practice in Topeka since 2017, first with Goodell, Stratton and more recently with Stevens & Brand. Whitney has represented government agencies and officials, businesses, and individuals in state and federal court and before administrative boards and tribunals. She has been recognized as One to Watch by Best Lawyers in America, a SuperLawyer Rising Star, and the Topeka Legal Professional Boss of the Year.

Whitney is active with the bar and community. She has served as President of the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka, Secretary for the Kansas Women Attorneys Association, as a board member for the Topeka Bar Association, and as Secretary of the Board for Communities in Schools of Mid-America. She has a passion for raising awareness for mental health issues and teaching mindfulness, including giving many continuing education presentations on these topics. She is involved with the law school as a mentor through the Professional Development Office.


Photograph: Joslyn Kusiak.Joslyn Kusiak, '12, is a graduate of Missouri State University and Washburn University School of Law. While in law school, she served as staff editor for the Washburn Law Journal, interned for the Honorable Steve Leben at the Kansas Court of Appeals, clerked with the Kansas Highway Patrol, and interned at the Washburn Law Civil Litigation Clinic. Upon graduation, Joslyn spent three years practicing law in Wichita handling all phases of civil litigation before joining the firm of Kelly & Kusiak in her hometown of Independence, Kansas. She also currently serves as Independence Municipal Judge. In 2018, she was honored with the Kansas Bar Association Outstanding Young Lawyer Award.

Kusiak presently serves on the Kansas Continuing Legal Education Board as the Vice Chair, Kansas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees, and Kansas Bar Association Board of Governors as the Young Lawyer Delegate to the American Bar Association. She has been engaged in alumni activities and hosts alumni events in southeast Kansas.