About me
Beth Cruz serves as Assistant Dean and Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Director of Public Interest at Vanderbilt Law School. She provides leadership, institutional support, and specialized advising for students as they develop high-impact careers in public interest law. Her office fosters a culture of practicing law for the greater good by providing pro bono and court-watching programs for the law school community. She also teaches a Public Interest Policy and Legislation Practicum
Prior to her work at Vanderbilt, Cruz served as the founder and team leader of the Education Rights Project in the Nashville Defenders Office. The Education Rights Project focused on disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline through legal representation, policy advocacy and stakeholder education. She provided legal representation to economically vulnerable clients in education, juvenile justice and child welfare matters for 13 years. A leader in education policy advocacy, Cruz built coalitions with community, governmental and advocacy groups to end elementary school arrests in Nashville, reduce exclusionary discipline in Nashville’s public schools, and remove language disadvantaging children experiencing poverty from Tennessee’s special education regulations. In her current role, Cruz remains engaged in advocating for child-centered education law and policy. She is a graduate of The University of Rochester and Vanderbilt Law School.
