Special to the WJH Mercer University’s Walter F. George Law School has honored Chyna Carter with its George Waldo Woodruff Award of Excellence for 2025, the school announced recently.
Carter, a graduate of Ware County High School and the University of Georgia, will graduate first in her class from Mercer later this month.
She is the daughter of Taylor and Libby Gibson of Blackshear. Her grandparents are Tom and Lorayne Strickland, Doug and Delores Gibson, and Anna Pickett.
The Woodruff Award is given annually to the student with the highest grade point average after five semesters in the school’s program.
Woodruff was a distinguished businessman, strong proponent of education and a friend of the Walter F. George Law School.
The honoree is a candidate for consideration in Mercer Law’s Brainerd Currie Honor Society and a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
At Mercer, Carter was a member of the Habeas Project, the school’s post conviction defense clinic. In that capacity, she coauthored briefs field in the Georgia Supreme Court and superior courts around the state advocating to correct constitutional rights violations suffered by indigent prisoners.
Carter was awarded the Public Service Certificate after completing the requisite credit hours in required courses and contributing pro bono legal work during her final semester.
At UGA, Carter studied political science and religion, and graduated magna cum laude in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.
After graduation at Mercer, she will begin her law career on St. Simons Island as an associate attorney with the Atlantabased firm of McLain & Merritt, P.C.
Their office on St. Simons focuses on business and construction litigation.
