Zachary McNish ’06 Service medal winner
‘an advocate for people’
While working in the remote fields of Panama as a Peace Corps volunteer, Zachary McNish listened. He listened to the villagers describe how they lived their lives and the many hardships that confronted their community.
During his three years of living with the Wounann people in the Rio Hondo area of Panama, McNish learned, for instance, that the indigenous group faced difficulties irrigating their crops. He also found them resistant at first to new agricultural methods, even though these efforts would likely increase their yield.
By listening first, then acting, McNish finally managed to introduce new farming techniques that have helped the Wounann with their crops.
These same qualities served McNish well as a contributing member of Duke Law School community. Shortly before graduating with his law degree this spring, McNish was selected for a prestigious service medal given each year by the University. “Working for the Peace Corps was more of an instinct than a calling,” McNish said. “My desire to help others is specific.… Looking back, I liked being an advocate for people.”
During his three years at Duke Law, McNish advocated for a number of causes. As co-chair of the law school’s non-profit Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), he led an effort that raised nearly $100,000 for fellow students on unpaid legal internships or who had other financial needs.
Teresa Sakash ’06 worked side-by-side with McNish on these PILF efforts, and came away impressed by his hard work and dedication.
“He loves non-profit work. You can just smell it in him; he can work on it 12 hours a day, six days a week.”
According to Sakash, McNish also came up with a guide to help law students navigate the difficult first year of law school.
“He focuses on helping building a community,” said Sakash, who also served in the Peace Corps before entering law school. “He has paved the way for other students by making it easier.”
McNish said his own orientation to law school failed to prepare him for the rest of the school year, which prompted him and another student to act.
They started Transeo Orbis (which roughly translates in Latin to “jumping through the hoops”) and intentionally made the orientation program comical. For example, students must scale an inflatable mountain (symbolic of the grade curve) and sumo wrestle (a simulation of moot court, where students argue hypothetical cases similar to what might occur in a courtroom).
Associate Dean of Student Affairs Jill Miller co-nominated McNish for the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medal, awarded to a graduating senior and a member of the faculty, staff or graduate student body for their outstanding commitment to service. McNish was presented with the medal in early May.
“He tackles the most tedious stuff with great passion,” Miller said.
Rebecca Rich ’06, who like McNish was a teaching assistant in a legal writing class, said she found McNish “always engaged and passionate about learning” various aspects of the law. She said he approaches a mundane task like teaching citation form with the same passion that he approaches other aspects of his life.
“His conduct in this role exemplifies his commitment to taking all of his work seriously and doing it well, simply because it is work that needs to be done,” Rich said.
Born and raised in Hawaii, McNish returned to his native state following graduation. He currently heads Native Future, a non-profit organization aimed at helping indigenous cultures such as the Wounaan conserve their land, which is currently threatened by commercial development.
McNish, who also earned a master’s degree in English, began a clerksip for Ninth District Federal Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren in Honolulu in August.
“I am really excited to clerk this year,” he said. “It will be great to earn practical experience.”