Soraya Diase Coffelt

Soraya Diase Coffelt is a lawyer and former judge of the United States Virgin Islands Superior Court. She was the first woman and first Hispanic from St. Thomas to serve as a judge.^[2] She served not only as a trial judge, but also as an appellate court judge, hearing and deciding appeals from the Superior Court on St. Croix. During her years of judicial service and afterwards, Diase Coffelt promoted the improvement of the local judicial system through the development of an autonomous Virgin Islands court system, which included the establishment of its own supreme court.^[3] Her Master’s thesis, advocating the establishment of a supreme court, was used as a guideline by Virgin Islands lawmakers to create the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in 2004. Diase Coffelt also developed the V.I. High School Moot Court Competition in 1994, which is an annual, interscholastic competition for high school seniors, with winners receiving college scholarships. The competition has been sponsored by the Virgin Islands Bar Association and the courts. In May, 2013, the Virgin Islands Bar Association presented Diase Coffelt with an award for her valuable contributions to the people of the Virgin Islands.^[4]

Early life and education

Soraya Diase Coffelt was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to lower-middle class parents, who were small business owners.^[3] Diase Coffelt was valedictorian of her high school class. She earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with honors in 1978. She then attended Cornell University’s School of Law and graduated in 1981 with a juris doctorate degree. After years of legal practice and judicial service, Diase Coffelt attended the University of Nevada at Reno and the National Judicial College, where she earned a degree of Master of Judicial Studies, with a major in Trial Judges, in 2001.^[5]

As the Stars of the Sky Foundation, Inc.

Diase Coffelt served on various Christian missionary trips to Honduras and the Amazon River region of Peru.^[6] Her love for serving the underprivileged and children led her to establish in 2013 a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation, As the Stars of the Sky Foundation, Inc. Its focus is to assist children in need and to advocate the importance of literacy.^[7]

Publications

In 2014, she published her first book for children titled It’s Not About You, Mr. Santa Claus- A Love Letter About The True Meaning Of Christmas.^[8] This is the first book in a new series geared towards teaching children the meaning of popular holidays from a Christian perspective. The book is published in English by Morgan James Publishing Group.^[9]

In 2015, Diase Coffelt announced that the second and third books in the “It’s Not About You” series would be released.^[3] It’s Not About You, Mr. Pumpkin- A Love Letter About the True Meaning of Halloween will tell the story of the true origins of Halloween. It's Not About You, Mrs. Turkey- A Love Letter About The True Meaning of Thanksgiving will tell the story of the origins of Thanksgiving.

2014 Virgin Islands gubernatorial campaign

Soraya Diase Coffelt, an Independent candidate, ran with John Canegata, a registered Republican, as an “Independent” or “no party” team for Governor and Lieutenant Governor in the November, 2014 gubernatorial election.^[10] This was the first time in Virgin Islands history that such a dual candidacy team had occurred.^[11] The supervisor of elections had initially disqualified the team, but they filed suit and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed their candidacy pursuant to Virgin Islands law.^[12] The team ran third place in the general election held on November 4, 2014.^[13]

Diase-Coffelt was announced as the territory’s Attorney General on Dec. 30, 2014, but later resigned.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Personal life

Soraya Diase Coffelt met her husband Gordon on St. Thomas. Together, they worked to develop a variety of commercial businesses and properties, including the island’s first gas stations and convenience stores. Her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and died in 2013. They had been married for 29 years.

Diase Coffelt has family ties throughout the Caribbean, including Antigua, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

On August 12, 2013, the St. Thomas East End Medical Center gave Diase Coffelt a special recognition award for her contributions toward and service at its Reach Out and Read program.^[7]

References

External links

• As the Stars of the Sky Homepage
• Soraya’s Amazon Author Page
• "It's Not About You" Series on Goodreads