From the classroom to community leadership

When Jamison Whiting '21 and Bowen Cochran '22 met for coffee before their first year at UC Irvine Law in 2018, they had no idea they were laying the foundation for a partnership that would be tested by one of the most intense government operations in recent American history.

The two incoming UC Irvine Law students were the only ones from Minnesota in their class Facebook group. They bonded instantly and spent the next three years becoming known around campus for their shared civic pride for the city of Minneapolis.

Today, their affection for Minneapolis has taken on profound significance. Whiting was elected on Nov. 4, 2025, to the Minneapolis City Council representing Ward 11, and Cochran was his campaign manager now turned top council aide - positions they assumed on Jan. 5. Just two days later, Renee Good was killed during federal immigration enforcement operations. Whiting shared his grief and policy recommendations with the world, representing Minneapolis in TV interviews including CNN and ABC. Within weeks, an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended on their city. A soundtrack of whistles and car horns in every neighborhood became the new normal - warning signals from locals that ICE agents are on the move.

And then the unthinkable happened again on Jan. 24. In a social media post, Whiting commented: "I have no words left. I just witnessed another one of our residents murdered in broad daylight. Alex Pretti, I am so sorry, my brother. Our City is overwhelmed. Our government, who is supposed to protect us, is killing us."

"It's surreal," Whiting says. "These policy and legal conversations were ones we used to have sitting outside class at UC Irvine Law. Now we're having them with the mayor, with the governor, and with our colleagues on the council."

Diving into the deep end

The timing could hardly have been more intense. The duo found themselves immediately thrust into managing one of the most complex moments the city has faced in years, with national implications for constitutional governance, immigration enforcement, and local authority - "issue spotting" they recognize from their law school days.

"This would make for a really good cold call in one of our Con Law classes." Whiting says. "We have had to navigate what to do as a local government when the federal government blatantly disregards the Constitution."

"Questions come up on a logistical scale here that I think people maybe don't realize," Cochran adds. "For example, what to do if you're a 911 operator and someone calls in saying, 'I just saw a masked person put someone screaming into the back of a car.' Standard procedure would treat it as a kidnapping, but then you get there and there's a federal agent."

Whiting and Cochran describe the situation on the ground as unprecedented. "Federal agents operate without coordination with local authorities, creating chaos for residents, city services, and city infrastructure alike - families are afraid to leave their homes," Cochran says. "There are ICE agents going down to Cedar Avenue, the heart of the Somali community, checking every person's ID."

"Residents are showing up in large numbers to exercise their First Amendment right, but they are doing so peacefully - the Trump administration is really overstating the images of violence," Cochran adds.

Finding unity amidst crisis

One unexpected development has been the unity that's emerged across the city - a stark contrast to the divisions that followed George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

"The biggest difference between 2020 and now is everyone - the city government, state government, our governor, our residents, the Minneapolis Police Department - we are all on the same page that what we are witnessing is wrong," Whiting explains.

Whiting, a former police reform attorney, and Cochran have also worked to bridge the gap between residents and local police, prioritizing transparent communication and a sense of community. When Renee Good was killed, Whiting used his relationships with local police to gain access to the crime scene and coordinate a unified response.

Meeting the moment

Unity has enabled the Minneapolis City Council to implement creative solutions. The city council unanimously passed a resolution calling for an eviction moratorium to prevent families from being forced onto the streets. The council is also voting on expanded rental assistance and boosting resources for the city's immigration office from just two to three employees to meet the unprecedented demand.

In his personal capacity, Whiting revived a GoFundMe account he originally created while at UC Irvine Law to support Minneapolis small businesses after George Floyd's death, now raising almost $100,000 for emergency rental assistance to immigrant and undocumented families who have been impacted by federal activity.

Both alumni emphasize that supporters don't need to be in Minneapolis to make a difference.

"You don't have to be the person who is giving millions of dollars or going to every single rapid response," Whiting says. "Figure out what your skill is that you bring to the table to help alleviate harm from people's lives and do that."

For those who want to help directly, Whiting and Cochran underscore the immediate need for financial support, and point to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota as a resource for volunteer pro bono attorneys.

Celebrating roots at UC Irvine Law

Both alumni credit their time at UC Irvine Law with preparing them for this moment.

For Cochran, who was an actor and political organizer in Minneapolis before law school, the legal writing program proved transformative. "However good a writer anybody thinks they are, UC Irvine Law's Lawyering Skills Program brings you to a whole other level," he says.

He also credits the UCDC externship program as a life-changing experience. "A semester clerking with Senator Klobuchar's office on the Judiciary Committee locked me into what I wanted to do," he says. "If anyone is at all thinking about doing government work, where you're on the inside, legislating, I cannot recommend UCDC enough."

For Whiting, it was something more personal - belief. "UC Irvine Law believed in me from the start," he shares. "My entire time there, I was supported by professors who continued to have that belief in me, even when I didn't see it."

He recalls a pivotal moment during his 3L year when Chancellor's Professor L. Song Richardson, then dean of the Law School, encouraged Jamison to march to the beat of his own drum: "Song's wise words were that there will be many people who will tell you no, but if you believe in it and you think there's a way to do it and get things done, continue to do it.'"

"That lesson," Whiting says, "has been a guiding thought for me when I'm asking myself, how do we go about actually changing people's lives? The answer is to be creative and figure it out."

"We are indeed in the thick of it," Cochran says. "But we are grateful we have each other to trust and lean on - and the foundation UC Irvine Law gave us."