January 14, 2025 • 5 mins
The Tampa Bay area law school that graduated incoming President Trump's nominee for Attorney General is looking forward to a bump in prestige pending her confirmation. We speak with Stephanie Vaughan, Stetson College of Law alumna and law professor, about another Stetson Law alum, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi., who appears before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday (15th) (Photo Credit: Getty Images/Canva)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. A very important
day coming up. Confirmation hearings begin for Pam Bondy, the
former Assistant State Attorney with the Hillsboro State Attorney's Office,
former Attorney General of the State of Florida, and now
up as a nominee for confirmation as Attorney General of
the United States. Certainly a first for the Tampa Bay
(00:23):
area and likely a first for a local institution. We
have Stephanie Vaughn on the line. She is a law
professor at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. She
is an alumna there, and so is Pam Bondy, a professor. Vaughan,
welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you. I am delighted to be here and appreciate
it very much.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, what does it mean for yourself as and before
we get into your awareness and knowing Pam body, which
you have for some time, what does it mean for
yourself as a Stetson alumna and a professor and for
your students to have us jets and alum nominated and
potentially confirmed as Attorney General of the United States.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I have to tell you, at Stepson, we were over
the moon. It is absolutely something that is going to
not only raise Stepson's profile and demonstrate that we are
here as a law school and we are some to
be reckoned with in some ways. But we are so
very proud of Pam and everything that she's done up
until this point in time and now coming up to
(01:27):
her confirmation.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Hearing now, how much involvement has Pam Bondi had with
Stetson since graduation? Has she spoken to classes, has she
appeared at presentations there? How involved has she been since then?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
She's actually stayed in close contact with us and did
live in the Tampa Bay area for quite some time.
She has, at one point in time was our graduation
speaker and she gave the class I would like to
say it was about nine years ago, an inspiring speech
at graduation. It was really fantastic. She also has spoken
to classes, and she comes back to alumni functions and
(02:03):
actually says a few words quite often. The other thing
is she's been given an award at Stetson and we
have recognized her for other things outside of just the
social service that she does with the school, but all
of her accomplishments in life. She's actually a very active alum.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now you graduated, I believe right after her tell us
about how you recall Pam Bundy during her time and
your time as Stetson law students.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
I actually did graduate a year behind Pam. And the
nice thing about Stetson back then is that it was
a very small school. It has grown exponentially since the
early nineties. And basically we all knew each other and
it was one of those situations where you'd hear about
going to law school and people not, you know, giving
you their notes or being sort of helpful to each other.
(02:52):
But Stepson was never that way, so we all really
got along. We played intermual sports together, we studied together,
we actually socialize together. It was a really nice time
to be at Stepson College of Law. And I remember
Pam being involved in all of those things.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
For those who are not from this area or from
Florida and who haven't seen Pam Bondy in action with
in her various roles as a prosecutor as an Attorney General,
when people watch the confirmation in the Senate, should what
quality should they expect to see when they see Pam
Bondy go up there and start answering questions from Senators.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, well, I'm going to use the rule of threes
on that one and say three things. First and foremost
honest answers. Secondly, poise and respect, And thirdly, a steps
and trained lawyer which is well known for being an
excellent trial lawyer that is very well prepared to get
out there and represent the government on one hand and
(03:54):
the public on the other.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And it's no secret, of course, she has, in her
very various roles, been certainly a presence in the media
and certainly is no stranger to a camera or a microphone,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
In fact, she got her I like to say that
Pam got her start over in the Hillsborough County State
Attorney's office, where she was the spokesperson for that office,
and she was basically a person that was a pioneer
in that. I mean, she got on the screen and
she talked about law enforcement, she talked about what those
(04:30):
state attorneys did to protect the citizens of Hillsborough County.
And then when she was the Attorney General of Florida,
she did that for the entire state of Florida. So
she is no stranger to a microphone. I have all
the faith in the world that you will hear honest,
clear and direct answers from Pam.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And we are certainly going to be looking forward to
that when Pam Bondi takes the stand in her confirmation
hearings in the US Senate. Professor Stephanie Vaughan at Stetson
University Colle of Law in Gulfport, thank you very much
for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Thank you so much for having me, and I wish
Pam the best
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. A very important
day coming up. Confirmation hearings begin for Pam Bondy, the
former Assistant State Attorney with the Hillsboro State Attorney's Office,
former Attorney General of the State of Florida, and now
up as a nominee for confirmation as Attorney General of
the United States. Certainly a first for the Tampa Bay
(00:23):
area and likely a first for a local institution. We
have Stephanie Vaughn on the line. She is a law
professor at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. She
is an alumna there, and so is Pam Bondy, a professor. Vaughan,
welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you. I am delighted to be here and appreciate
it very much.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, what does it mean for yourself as and before
we get into your awareness and knowing Pam body, which
you have for some time, what does it mean for
yourself as a Stetson alumna and a professor and for
your students to have us jets and alum nominated and
potentially confirmed as Attorney General of the United States.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I have to tell you, at Stepson, we were over
the moon. It is absolutely something that is going to
not only raise Stepson's profile and demonstrate that we are
here as a law school and we are some to
be reckoned with in some ways. But we are so
very proud of Pam and everything that she's done up
until this point in time and now coming up to
(01:27):
her confirmation.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Hearing now, how much involvement has Pam Bondi had with
Stetson since graduation? Has she spoken to classes, has she
appeared at presentations there? How involved has she been since then?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
She's actually stayed in close contact with us and did
live in the Tampa Bay area for quite some time.
She has, at one point in time was our graduation
speaker and she gave the class I would like to
say it was about nine years ago, an inspiring speech
at graduation. It was really fantastic. She also has spoken
to classes, and she comes back to alumni functions and
(02:03):
actually says a few words quite often. The other thing
is she's been given an award at Stetson and we
have recognized her for other things outside of just the
social service that she does with the school, but all
of her accomplishments in life. She's actually a very active alum.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now you graduated, I believe right after her tell us
about how you recall Pam Bundy during her time and
your time as Stetson law students.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
I actually did graduate a year behind Pam. And the
nice thing about Stetson back then is that it was
a very small school. It has grown exponentially since the
early nineties. And basically we all knew each other and
it was one of those situations where you'd hear about
going to law school and people not, you know, giving
you their notes or being sort of helpful to each other.
(02:52):
But Stepson was never that way, so we all really
got along. We played intermual sports together, we studied together,
we actually socialize together. It was a really nice time
to be at Stepson College of Law. And I remember
Pam being involved in all of those things.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
For those who are not from this area or from
Florida and who haven't seen Pam Bondy in action with
in her various roles as a prosecutor as an Attorney General,
when people watch the confirmation in the Senate, should what
quality should they expect to see when they see Pam
Bondy go up there and start answering questions from Senators.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, well, I'm going to use the rule of threes
on that one and say three things. First and foremost
honest answers. Secondly, poise and respect, And thirdly, a steps
and trained lawyer which is well known for being an
excellent trial lawyer that is very well prepared to get
out there and represent the government on one hand and
(03:54):
the public on the other.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And it's no secret, of course, she has, in her
very various roles, been certainly a presence in the media
and certainly is no stranger to a camera or a microphone,
not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
In fact, she got her I like to say that
Pam got her start over in the Hillsborough County State
Attorney's office, where she was the spokesperson for that office,
and she was basically a person that was a pioneer
in that. I mean, she got on the screen and
she talked about law enforcement, she talked about what those
(04:30):
state attorneys did to protect the citizens of Hillsborough County.
And then when she was the Attorney General of Florida,
she did that for the entire state of Florida. So
she is no stranger to a microphone. I have all
the faith in the world that you will hear honest,
clear and direct answers from Pam.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And we are certainly going to be looking forward to
that when Pam Bondi takes the stand in her confirmation
hearings in the US Senate. Professor Stephanie Vaughan at Stetson
University Colle of Law in Gulfport, thank you very much
for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Thank you so much for having me, and I wish
Pam the best
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