A Principled Stance

On the 18th floor of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center, tucked behind a wood-paneled courtroom, Judge William Vodrey ’87’s office faces the hazy Cleveland skyline. Outside, the late afternoon heat swells to nearly 90 degrees, although it feels hotter thanks to a close, sticky humidity.

Vodrey, who serves on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County, slides stacks of manila folders aside on a conference table to make room for a conversation with me and his summer intern, Matthew Grogan ’27.  Deep into the fourth week of a lengthy and challenging criminal trial, the duo remains upbeat.

"A lot of what I've been interested in [at Oberlin] has been social change and social movements," says Grogan, a politics major who organizes with the ACLU Campus Action Team. “One thing that I’ve always noticed is that, in underlying social movements towards justice, towards restoration, you have these big movements that occur outside of the courtroom, and they eventually blossom up into the courtroom.” 

Part of the appeal of interning with Judge Vodrey, he adds, is the chance to see how these movements play out in the courts. In addition to observing trial proceedings, Grogan supports jury members, talks to both prosecution and defense teams, helps with legal research, and asks about the impact of the law he sees in the courtroom each day.

Vodrey appears comfortable as a mentor and teacher—a role he’s also taken on at Oberlin as an adjunct professor in legal advocacy through the politics department. "I have found the law to be an enormously rewarding profession,” he says. “And where I can encourage Obies to enter the law, to play an important role in our society, I'm happy to do it. I’m pleased to see young people like Matthew who are interested in the law and want to make it a profession.”

In at least one respect, Vodrey's legal career offers law school hopefuls like Grogan a unique path to study. Throughout terms as both a municipal court magistrate and a judge, Vodrey has submitted and published more than 20 opinions as legal precedent in the state of Ohio. One judgment, in a case about taxation, was even cited by the Solicitor General of the U.S. 

“That was very gratifying for me, to have this tiny little bit of legal immortality,” he says, the respect for his profession audible. His office also reflects this respect: Behind Vodrey's desk, the built-in bookcase is filled from top to bottom with law books. Countless cards and photos, including a thank you note from Oberlin, perch before the serious titles.

Ultimately, Vodrey remains deeply connected to Oberlin because the college’s students are like Grogan: “smart, well-prepared and concerned about the world.” He also feels it's important to give back and, in 2018, received Oberlin's Alumni Medal. “My four years at Oberlin were some of the best years of my young life,” Vodrey says. “It's good to be back on campus and to be trying to repay in some way the debt that I owe to Oberlin for all it taught me, and how much of a difference it made to me.”

Like Vodrey before him, Grogan feels his time at Oberlin is putting him on the path to law school. “This internship has made me a lot more confident in my ability to learn about the law,” he says, noting he also interned for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs over Winter Term. 

“I think [this internship] and [being involved in] my other law-related experiences at Oberlin, have all demonstrated to me that there are these immediate impacts of law,” Grogan adds. “By being a practitioner of the law, [your impact] ripples out in ways determined by how you want the world to change.”

To Vodrey, Grogan’s conscientiousness reflects the Obie spirit. “Obies understand the need for our country to be true to its principles, especially in these troubling times, and to live up to its potential [and] its promise.”

Throughout their lengthy conversations about legal proceedings, Vodrey occasionally puts Grogan to the test with an important question: What would Judge Grogan do? "Being an Obie, [Matthew] has the eyes of an aspiring lawyer, he sees both sides of the issue," Vodrey says. “But it falls to the judge to decide.”

Career Exploration & Development helps Oberlin students find summer internships and professional opportunities aligned with their career goals by offering one-on-one advising, on-campus panel discussions and networking.

Kristen Evans is a culture writer and critic who has written for BuzzFeed, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, NYLON, and The New Republic.