About Me
Kyle Jordan Smith is a recent graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and is pursuing a career in civil rights litigation, continuing his lifelong commitment to racial justice. He has accepted judicial clerkships for the 2026-27 term and 2027-28 term, first with a state court judge in Maryland and next with a federal district court judge in Washington state.
While at Vanderbilt, Kyle served as President of the Black Law Students Association where he advocated for his peers and spearheaded the law school’s 70th anniversary of desegregation Black History Month Celebration. As a law student, Kyle dedicated himself to public interest advocacy, serving as Co-Director of the Street Law Program, which was named Vanderbilt's best community service organization during his tenure, and serving as a student-attorney for the Vanderbilt Immigration Practice Clinic. For his impactful leadership and commitment to social justice, Kyle was named a recipient of numerous public interest and social justice scholarships and awards, including the Amy and Frank Garrison Social Justice Scholarship, the Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Prize, Demali A. Booker Award, and Philip G. Davidson III Award.
Kyle also contributed to legal scholarship as an Editor for both the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Vanderbilt Social Justice Reporter. He is an author or co-author of several law articles, including his Note published in the Vanderbilt Law Review, titled “When Detention Becomes a Death Sentence: The Urgent Need for Greater Due Process Protections for ICE Detainees,” and an article co-authored with women incarcerated in Tennessee titled “The Need for a Sentencing 'Second Look' Statute in Tennessee."
Before starting law school, Kyle was an aide to U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), where he served as Speechwriter and prepared weekly speeches, statements, and talking points related to key foreign and domestic policy issues. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy with a Minor in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), where he was a Stamps President’s Scholar.
Kyle first developed a passion for social justice advocacy as a middle school student after witnessing the brutality of the criminal justice system towards young people of color like Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice. With the help of a community mentor, Ms. Wanda Wills Woodland, he joined the local youth council chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Charles County, MD. As a member of the NAACP Youth Council, Kyle learned about the impact that public policy can have on vulnerable communities. He eventually became president of the youth council and led protests against police brutality and police misconduct. He also pushed for reforms within the Charles County Public School system to address the school-to-prison pipeline, the achievement gap, and school discipline disparities between Black and white students. Because of his advocacy for education reform and commitment to improving outcomes for his peers, Kyle was elected by the Maryland Association of Student Councils and appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to serve as the Student Member on the Maryland State Board of Education during the 2017-2018 school year.
Following high school, Kyle attended Georgia Tech as a Stamps President’s Scholar where he studied public policy and international affairs. While at Georgia Tech, Kyle was a recipient of the university’s Federal Jackets Fellowship—a prestigious grant awarded by the Georgia Tech Office of Government and Community Relations for students to gain federal work experience in Washington, DC. Through the fellowship, Kyle interned for Senator Cardin where he prepared policy memos on justice, immigration, and civil rights issues. The experience helped cement his passion for and interest in the law.
As a student at Georgia Tech, Kyle was heavily involved in student government, where he served as Chair of the Cultural and Diversity Affairs Committee and eventually as Student Body Vice President. As a leader in student government, Kyle launched initiatives to improve student well-being and inclusion. During his sophomore year, he helped to establish the Menstrual Product Program, a student-led initiative to provide free menstrual hygiene products to the campus student body. As Student Body Vice President, he launched Affinity Networks within the student government to increase the representation of underrepresented students and provide support mechanisms for their inclusion. He was also a student assistant for the African American Male Initiative, an initiative created by Georgia Tech’s Office of Minority Education and Development (OMED).