It is with great sadness that we note the passing of our own Lonzetta Hightower, a long-time member of the SJCL team. Lonzetta was with SJCL for 32 years, beginning in 1990 when she served as receptionist/secretary and the law school was located in a strip mall on Shields Ave.
She continued in the same capacity when the school moved to Clovis until she was promoted to Student Services Assistant in 2003. Zed then helped to process admissions applications and provided support to development. She was a stellar student in the SJCL Paralegal Program, which she completed just to see what it was all about. Zed loved SJCL and the law students and will be profoundly missed. Should you wish to express your condolences please send them to the law school. SJCL will ensure the family receives them.
The piece below was written several years ago about Zed’s enjoyment of feeding the squirrels in Veteran’s Park. She preferred to remain anonymous, so it was never published. We share it here in her honor.
Squirrel!
The annual Popcorn and Cold Brew Coffee Day generated a bit of extra excitement this year when one of our new 1L’s stepped outside to enjoy a fresh bag before class. He had barely grabbed a piece when he was ambushed by a fast approaching, highly confident looking squirrel! The student made a hasty retreat back into the building and, after taking a moment to regroup exclaimed, somewhat out of breath: “A squirrel just rushed me! He was coming up fast, like he was going to jump. It creeped me out!”
Once word got around campus that a squirrel had waylaid a student in the park, it was revealed that an anonymous, longtime staff member (Lonzetta), had been feeding said squirrel, and many more of its associates, for some years. “I knew it was her!” (a squirrel Lonzetta called Mama), said the staffer. “That particular squirrel has a very specific appearance! She comes running whenever I step outside with food. She really likes popcorn, but also crackers and grapes!”