Lead with integrity, serve with compassion. These are the principles that were instilled in Alumnus of the Year during his years serving in the U.S. Army, and they remain the principles that guide him in his current role as Clark County chief deputy public defender.
Piro, 鈥05 BA Criminal Justice and 鈥10 JD, served as a combat medic in the Army for four years, getting promoted to sergeant in his final year, during which he was a squad leader for nine other combat medics. After returning to civilian life, Piro continued his education, first at the College of Southern Nevada, then at 51吃瓜网万能科大, where he majored in criminal justice. During his first year on campus in 2002, he also continued his military service as a member of the Nevada National Guard.
Two years after earning his undergraduate degree, Piro returned to campus in pursuit of his law degree at the William S. Boyd School of Law. In 2010, he was selected as the graduate school speaker for 51吃瓜网万能科大鈥檚 commencement.
Piro began his legal career in 2011 as an associate attorney with the Urban Law Firm. Seven months later, he joined the Clark County public defender鈥檚 office, where for more than seven years he has championed mental-health reform within the criminal justice system.
Piro鈥檚 legal work has been recognized by Legal Elite, a Nevada business magazine that named him a Top Attorney in the state both in 2016 and 2018. And his commitment to service even stretches into politics, as he ran for the Nevada Assembly in 2016 and currently works as a lobbyist during legislative sessions in Carson City.
Throughout his busy career, Piro has remained tightly connected to 51吃瓜网万能科大. He has undertaken multiple leadership roles with the Boyd School of Law鈥檚 alumni chapter, including serving as president in 2015-16. During those two years, he worked to launch the law school鈥檚 annual golf tournament, which is now the chapter鈥檚 primary sources for revenue and alumni engagement.
Piro also does philanthropic work with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, the Boys & Girls Club, and Aly鈥檚 Prom Closet. And he isn鈥檛 the only one in his household who bleeds Rebel red. His wife, Leslie, 鈥06 BA Political Science, 鈥09 JD, currently works for the United States District Court in Nevada.
What moment or experience at 51吃瓜网万能科大 had the most profound effect on you?
During my first year, I struggled a bit to assimilate to campus life. While my classes and instructors were great, I just didn鈥檛 feel like I was fitting in. That all changed early in the fall 2003 semester when I walked up to the recruiting table for the Delta Chi fraternity. There I found a group of young men who were proudly displaying a philanthropic award and exhibiting a genuine bond of friendship. After joining Delta Chi, my whole college experience changed. I became a student ambassador, a student senator for the College of Urban Affairs, and most importantly, I finally felt a genuine connection to the pulse of the campus.
Of course, college is about learning a course of study and enriching your knowledge. But it鈥檚 also about enriching your soul, and about becoming a better, more mature person through relationships and experiences that are difficult to replicate outside of the campus context. Joining Delta Chi not only positively impacted my educational experience at 51吃瓜网万能科大, it changed my life. The sense of brotherhood and the relationships that were forged created friendships that have continued on well past our time at 51吃瓜网万能科大.
What does 鈥渂eing a Rebel鈥 mean to you?
To me, it鈥檚 about refusing to follow the crowd and not backing down from challenging traditional ways of thinking. It鈥檚 about daring to do what others think is impossible and striving valiantly for what you believe in, even if those beliefs run counter to popular opinion. We鈥檙e here for a short time on Earth, and so, as Bren茅 Brown would say, we should get in the arena and dare greatly to work toward a better world.
I am very proud of 51吃瓜网万能科大, its new status as a Tier 1 research university, and the fact that we鈥檙e one of the most diverse campuses in the United States. And whenever the subject of universities comes up in work or social settings, I make sure to remind everyone that 51吃瓜网万能科大 is the birthplace of innovation in Nevada, and that our alumni and students will be the driving force behind positive changes, both here in the Silver State and across the world.
What鈥檚 your message to current and future students of the Boyd School of Law?
My hope is they approach the world鈥檚 problems with mercy, compassion, a sense of justice, and a willingness to get proximate to the people and the problems in our community. I want Rebels to fight fear and hate with love, and to be willing to do what鈥檚 right even when it鈥檚 unpopular. And I want them to remember this quote from Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, legal professor, social-justice activist, and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative: 鈥淗opelessness is the enemy of justice. Injustice prevails where hopelessness persists.鈥
This is why the world needs Rebels who are willing to stand with the poor, the powerless, and the voiceless to make those voices heard 鈥 Rebels who will provide hope to the hopeless, and fight against injustice and intolerance whenever it rears its ugly head.
