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It was Valentine's Day, 2005. Starr Brookins ’07, then a UT student, was driving her boyfriend in his Lexus to a restaurant when she got pulled over. A police officer aggressively asked, “Did you steal this car?” while she gripped the steering wheel and cried.

Fast forward a few years to when Brookins received a merit scholarship to George Washington University Law School, one of the top 25 law schools in the U.S., and was told to her face by a white lawyer, “Must be great being Black.”

Those are two of many experiences that have made Brookins feel “less than human” and have motivated her to become not only a lawyer who fights against injustices — but also a diversity trainer.

Brookins, who was the salutatorian of her high school and graduated magna cum laude from UT in three years, is an associate legal advisor for the Orange County Property Appraiser in Florida and a hearing officer in Hillsborough County. She was also recently the co-chair of the diversity and inclusion committee of the Hillsborough Association of Women Lawyers.

Through the latter role, at a February conference with dozens in attendance, she led two powerful trainings. One was “Coming Out Stars,” on how to be an ally and advocate for the LGBTQ community, and the other was “Talking Boldly: How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them,” on asking uncomfortable questions related to race. “You're not going to get past biases until you confront them,” says Brookins.

In these sessions, she encouraged people to talk about their cultures and how they grew up. “Then people may see the commonalities — like I'm white and you're Black, but we were raised with the same values,” says Brookins.

This unifying skillset was honed at UT, where she chaired the Diversity Fellowship — which was a student organization in the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement — in her last year.

A military brat who grew up watching Matlock with her great-grandmother, Brookins has wanted to become a judge ever since she was chosen by fellow students in elementary school to be a peer mediator.

“I've seen the impact a judge can have. A bad judge can make people feel like they're not heard. I've always been compassionate, and I love helping people through problems,” says Brookins, who majored in criminology and criminal justice, and was named “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in August.

In fact, Brookins, who started her legal career in the child welfare field, felt such a bond with a teen who was on her caseload that she adopted her. Shamarae, who is now 25 and working in Orlando, can't wait to see Brookins on the bench someday.

By Jane Bianchi