Michelle Lauron and Michael Fermin began building their legacy of community service and paying it forward well before they graduated from UC Irvine in 1991, and even before they became a couple. They have dedicated their careers to seeking justice for victims as deputy district attorneys – although Lauron is a newly enrobed Superior Court Judge now. All while maintaining a lifelong connection to the UCI School of Social Sciences, and supporting the next generation of Anteaters through mentorship and active participation in the Dean’s Leadership Society.

“Everything that we've done from working with service organizations, student government, mentoring students, the theme has been helping others,” Lauron says. “We have similar values, plus our personalities and shared interests created something that was meant to be.”

Fermin and Lauron met in their 10th grade English class at Apple Valley High School, and became best friends. They studied together, volunteered in the community through Key Club and competed in Mock Trial.

When they enrolled at UCI – still just friends and classmates – both were biology majors with plans to become physicians like their parents. But a lot was going on in the world. Tiananmen Square, the Berlin Wall and the first Gulf War were making headlines. In the School of Social Sciences, professors were directly engaging with the issues of the day, and they really cared about what students thought. They both switched their major to political science with a minor in global peace and conflict studies. Not only did they take courses with esteemed faculty including Martin Wattenberg, Mark Petracca, Caesar Sereseres, James Danziger, William Schonfeld and David Easton, but they enjoyed lunches at the University Club, and conversations over dinner with other students at their homes.

“There weren’t books for the classes we were taking because we were studying history as it was happening,” Lauron says. “What was special about UCI is the classes were out of the box.” All these years later, Lauron remembers with crystal clear detail a project in lecturer Tom Grant’s class where she represented Iraq, and Fermin represented Kuwait in an international negotiation based on the Gulf War.

“We just have such good experiences with so many professors, so we've always loved UCI,” she adds.

Anteater leaders

The world has changed, but the school’s approach to learning is still hands-on. The couple’s younger daughter is minoring in political science at UCI, and during the general election she was assigned to write advice for the two presidential candidates. “It’s another example of just how dynamic and interactive the instruction is at UCI – and that's brilliant because it gets students interested,” says Lauron.

In addition to academics, the two were active in leadership roles on campus. Both served as director of external affairs for the Associated Students of UCI, and Lauron was Fermin’s campaign manager when he ran successfully for executive vice president. In that role, Fermin led campus advocacy efforts for state legislation to keep student fees low, improved pedestrian safety in Aldrich Park by limiting bicycling on the inner ring, and worked with the City of Irvine to increase street parking near campus. Fermin and Lauron also served in leadership roles for Circle K International, not just at UCI but for the service organization’s California, Nevada, Hawaii District. Fermin served as governor and lieutenant governor, and Lauron as treasurer and lieutenant governor.

It was sometime during their third year at UCI that the pair officially became a couple – to the surprise of no one who knew them. The duo both earned law degrees from UC Davis, and then joined the San Bernardino DA’s office, where they had interned as high school students, after one of the DAs was impressed by their performance in a state mock trial competition. Over the years, Fermin rose from being a trial deputy, a major crimes deputy handling numerous murder and death penalty cases to the role of chief assistant district attorney, overseeing administrative operations and nearly 700 staff members.

“A lot of people think the role of the prosecutor is to convict people, but it isn’t. Our role is to seek the truth,” says Fermin. “That truth may be that they committed a crime. That truth may be that they didn't. That truth may also be, I believe that they did but I can't prove it – in which case we have to act appropriately.

“It's the greatest job,” he adds. “It just doesn’t get old. Even after 30 years, you don’t get tired of pursuing the truth.”

Lauron served as a supervising deputy district attorney, managing the prosecution of major crimes. In her role, she felt deep empathy for the victims who have lost loved ones or who bear their invisible scars and trauma from crimes they experienced. During her trial career, she prosecuted murder, child abuse, rape, drug trafficking and welfare fraud cases to verdict. But Lauron has made a major career shift. In January 2025, she joined the San Bernardino Superior Court as a judge. She was sworn in before a packed courtroom, with her husband and two daughters at her side – the oldest a law student at UC Hastings and the youngest an Anteater. It’s a role that Lauron does not take lightly as she is assigned to family law.

“Society puts judges up on a pedestal, and as a judge you have to be respectful of that. You have to really earn that trust every day,” Lauron says. “And after running for office, I feel such an obligation to the people who voted for me, to not let them all down.”

Mentoring future attorneys

Mentors, including the district attorney who offered Fermin and Lauron internships when they were still in high school, profoundly impacted their trajectory. In turn, they cherish opportunities to mentor others. Both have coached the Mock Trial team at their alma mater, as well as at the high school their daughters attended. Lauron also oversees cohorts of 10 or more interns in DA’s office.

“These are law students who are looking to figure out if they are going to join our office and if they want to be prosecutors,” says Fermin. “And I see Michelle as marketing our office – not by telling them what we do, but by showing them who we are, how we care, and that we are invested in you.”

“We felt very strongly that we wanted to build the kind of support system within our own office that we know UCI has been famous for,” he added. “I worry that there are a lot of young folks who don’t know this path and, if it wasn’t for meeting someone in our position, might not ever find it.”

Fermin and Lauron have helped mentor UCI students they met, both as guest lecturers in political science classes, and for several years as lecturers for their own course called “Doing Justice.” The couple remains in touch with about a dozen former students who are now attorneys or in law school.

“It was eye opening for us, to meet a lot of students who wanted to go to law school, but who really needed mentoring and additional resources to succeed,” says Lauron. “It really gave us more heart, especially for first-generation students.”

Proud alumni

Lauron and Fermin first reconnected with UCI at an event celebrating 25 years of Order of Merit recipients – an award granted to the top 2% of undergraduates in the School of Social Sciences since 1982. Lauron and Fermin enjoyed attending school events and lectures and soon joined the Dean’s Leadership Society, where their support helps fund everything from scholarships to research.

“We're really thrilled to be able to help in any way we can. We might not have all the millions and millions that some people have, but we can certainly contribute – and every bit helps. We’re grateful to be able to do that, and to feel a part of all the innovative things happening here,” says Lauron.

Lauron is also a founding member of the Women of the Dean’s Leadership Society, and a mentor for the LeadHER program. Now in its second year, LeadHER is a course that brings women leaders from the public and private sector to mentor UCI students through small group conversations, readings, lectures and panel discussions. Among her advice to the students she mentored this fall: consistency adds up.

“You don’t have to go in and make the biggest splash,” she says. “If you have a habit every day of going in, doing the right thing, making good decisions in all different aspects of your life, over years and years, you reap huge rewards in your lifetime. You can make a huge difference with a lifetime of good decisions.”

That’s wisdom that Lauron and Fermin have been living by for decades, choosing day after day, to be leaders for current Anteaters, alumni, and their community.

-Christine Byrd for UCI Social Sciences