‘UnemployedJD’ Reveals Real Name, Says Hunger Strike Continues
The blogger who began a hunger strike on Aug. 5 to prod law schools to become more transparent says she isn’t giving up her fast—but she has decided to finally reveal her real identity.
The blogger used the name Ethan Haines at UnemployedJD.com, but she tells USA Today that her real name is Zenovia Evans, and she’s a 28-year old law grad from Denver. Her LinkedIn profile identifies her law school as “Contemporary Midwestern Law School” where she specialized in international law. She has also written books of law school advice.
Writing at UnemployedJD.com, Evans says she went on the hunger strike to prod law schools to become more transparent in employment statistics. According to an Aug. 26 Twitter post, Evans is still refusing food.
“I am officially at the end of the second stage of starvation,” she writes in an Aug. 23 blog post. “I have rejected all food thereby limiting myself to water and fruit juice for the past 12 days. Stage three—where death is highly probable—is in the very near future, but I have yet to receive any communication from law school officials regarding my Notice of hunger strike. As of today, I have lost 15 pounds! I am at a loss for words. … I will continue my hunger strike until law schools respond or my body gives in.”
Another so-called scamblogger who is angry about law school transparency is also angry about Evans. The blog Shilling Me Softly once banned Evans as a commenter because she was apparently trying to drive traffic to the website selling her book series. Even if she is sincere, Shilling Me Softly says, she’s an “opportunist.”
Other publications have pointed out that Evans is employed, although it’s not a permanent gig. Inside Higher Ed says Evans works as an independent contractor for a Colorado law firm, and she’s a 2009 graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan.
Updated on Aug. 26 to include information from Inside Higher Ed.
