Education Law Scholars Early Career Fellows

Dr. Shezadi Khushal is a scholar-practitioner whose work advances human rights, education, and transformative leadership. Her research bridges policy and practice, generating evidence-informed strategies that strengthen institutional accountability, promote equity, and drive meaningful organizational change.

As a Human Rights Investigator, she employs procedurally fair and trauma-informed approaches to addressing discrimination within one of Canada's largest public education systems. Dr. Khushal is the creator and facilitator of a comprehensive secondary-level course on the Ontario human rights legal system, equipping thousands of high school students with the legal knowledge, critical thinking, and practical skills to understand and advocate for their rights.

She has further advanced youth leadership by establishing a Human Rights Award that recognizes students demonstrating exceptional commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice. She is also the founder of the University of Toronto Human Rights Symposium, now in its fifth year, an interdisciplinary forum that convenes scholars, practitioners, and community leaders to advance dialogue, research, and action on human rights accountability.

Dr. Khushal is the recipient of the Ludwik & Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize, one of UofT's highest distinctions, the 2026 Social Justice and Humanitarian Award, the 2026 Advocacy & Social Impact Award, the 2026 MTM Impact Award, and 2026 Top Trailblazer to Watch.

Chris Yarrell is an Education Attorney at the Center for Law and Education, where he has led statewide efforts to expand access to education-focused legal assistance and address systemic barriers to educational opportunity.

Before starting his legal career, Chris served as a City Year AmeriCorps member and held positions in the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Office of the Mayor. He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a Virginia Public Service Scholar and a member of the Raven Society.

Chris also holds an M.A. in Sociology and Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Georgia. His research sits at the intersection of education law, administrative law, democratic governance, and law and political economy.

Chris's scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in the UC Irvine Law Review, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, NYU Review of Law & Social Change, and UCLA Law Review Discourse, among other journals. His writing for broader audiences has appeared in Slate, Education Week, Balls and Strikes, and The Hechinger Report.

Dr. Kendall Deas is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy, Law, and Politics in the Department of African American Studies at the University of South Carolina, where his research focuses on comparative models for enhancing civic literacy and improving public education.

Dr. Deas is a Fulbright Scholar and Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Educational Foundations. He holds advanced degrees from Georgetown University, Dartmouth College, Washington University in St. Louis, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Georgia's Mary Frances Early College of Education, where he earned his Ph.D. in education policy.

In addition, he was a one-year visiting student at Mansfield College of Oxford University, where he studied politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE), and was an Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the University of Texas's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

A recipient of the University of South Carolina's 2023 MLK Social Justice Award and The South Carolina Education Association's 2025 Outstanding Public Service Award, Dr. Deas also received a commendation from the South Carolina House of Representatives and a Special Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the U.S. Congress for receiving the state award. He is widely recognized for his research and advocacy in support of public education.

Caitlin Millat is an Associate Professor of Law at Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. She writes principally on the intersection of education, the family, and the state, focusing her research on education law, family law, and the law of democracy.

Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the UCLA Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, New York University Law Review, and North Carolina Law Review, among other publications.

Before joining ASU Law, Millat was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She previously worked as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine and Moore in New York, and also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Victor A. Bolden of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the Honorable Norman H. Stahl of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Millat received her J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law, her B.A. cum laude from New York University, and her M.S.Ed. in childhood education from Hunter College. Prior to attending law school, Millat worked as an elementary school teacher and administrator in Brooklyn.

Ryan Higgins is a third-year law student at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is also a research assistant to Professor Rachel Moran, director of the school's education law program. While in law school, he continues to serve as a Civil Affairs Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, has worked as a policy aide in the Texas State Senate, and taught as an adjunct professor in the College of Education at Texas Christian University (TCU), his alma mater.

Before law school, Ryan spent a decade as a high school teacher and coach in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and interned in the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressman Beto O'Rourke. He earned his Ed.D. from Drexel University in 2023, where his dissertation examined the relationship between the implementation of restorative discipline and teacher turnover in Title I high schools.

Outside of work and school, Ryan is a former rugby player who loves all sports, traveling internationally, and diligently maintains the best lawn in his neighborhood.

Professor Titichia Mitchell Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Academic Success and Bar Passage at Penn State Dickinson Law. Her scholarship focuses on legal pedagogy, curriculum reform, competency-based legal education, and practice readiness.

She teaches courses in academic success, bar preparation, and legal writing while advancing innovative approaches to legal education that better prepare students for the profession. Her research examines competency-based curriculum design, accreditation reform, and the evolving relationship between legal education and professional licensure.

Professor Jackson is an active national leader in legal education through her scholarship, presentations, and service to professional organizations.