Boston College Law School students continue to be awarded a variety of highly competitive external summer fellowships. More than three dozen aspiring lawyers are currently engaged in public interest advocacy nationwide addressing workers’ rights, systemic racism, legal aid, and other causes with the support of summer fellowships and scholarships.
Laura Stateler was awarded the Peggy Browning Fund Fellowship, given to students who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to and passion for workers’ rights.
The Boston Bar Association selected Grant Ford and Vivian Yu for its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summer Fellowship. The ten-week program will provide them with essential experience in public interest law, strong legal research and writing skills, an expanded professional network, and mentorship from the BBA DEI sections.
Rachel Freeman-Cook, Abigail Rosovsky, Erica Taft, Emily Masse, Ali Shafi, Samantha Perlman, and Ayesha Ahsan received summer fellowship grants from Equal Justice America. Each works full-time for a civil legal aid or civil rights organization this summer and will provide invaluable aid to low-income clients and underrepresented communities.
Three of the six stipends offered in the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s Legal Intern Fellowship program were presented to second-year BC Law students Virginia Ambeliotis, Sydney Blomstrom, and Ali Shafi. The program encourages skillful and accomplished students to pursue careers in the public interest and to provide legal aid organizations with essential additional staff for the summer.
The Massachusetts Bar Foundation Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants Judicial Scholarship was awarded to Emilia Ball, Lahela Delaney, Abigail Druhot, and Micaela Partinico. The scholarship provides Massachusetts law students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the state judiciary, while also increasing pathways to successful legal, public service, and judicial careers.
Deepti Sailappan was selected as one of three recipients for the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY) 2023 Public Interest Scholarship. AALFNY awards Public Interest Scholarships each year to law students with a demonstrated commitment to the Asian American community. The purpose of the award is to assist law students with their tuition while encouraging them to use their legal knowledge and training to benefit the Asian American community in New York and to foster commitment by law students to public service in New York.
In addition to the external fellowships, ten BC law students were named Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) Hillinger Fellows, and another ten were recipients of the PILF Racial Justice Stipend. Selected by a committee of PILF leaders, faculty and alumni, the Hillinger fellowship honors second-year students exceptionally committed to public service and the Racial Justice Stipend rewards students undertaking important and urgent work tied to dismantling systemic racism. The students receive an extra stipend on top of the traditional PILF Summer Public Interest Stipends.
This summer’s Hillinger Fellows are Lauren Ladino-Saunders, Tamara Pérez Cantalapiedra, J. Swanger, Emily Masse, Evan Metz, Tracy Werick, Sarah Honeycutt, Alice Figlin, Erica Taft, and Morgan Lloyd.
The Racial Justice Stipend Recipients are Ayesha Ahsan, James Johnson, Virginia Ambeliotis, Kris Green, Zachary Treichel, Deepti Sailappan, Haluwa Doherty, Teo Upton, Michael Tomase, and Nick Lopez.
Donations to the Public Interest Law Foundation to support these stipends can be made here.