Columbia Law School has chosen four students to receive the 2005 Public Interest Fellowships, which provide enhanced loan repayment support. "They make clear that Columbia Law School is attracting, inspiring and educating excellent public interest and human rights lawyers," said Ellen Chapnick, Columbia Law's dean for social justice initiatives.
The Lowenstein Fellowships are awarded to two graduates who show exceptional dedication and potential for contribution to public interest law. Stephen Hanmer and Christie Love are the 2005 Fellows. Stephen, who graduated from both the Law School and the School of Social Work, has already done impressive work as an international human rights advocate for children. As a result, the International Rescue Committee hired him to be the Child Protection Specialist on its Technical Assessment Mission in the Palestinian Territories. Christie is the recipient of the prestigious Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship at Georgetown Law Center and will do her field placement at the National Women's Law Center.
The Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP Fellowship is awarded to a graduate who shows exceptional dedication and potential for contribution to public interest law work devoted to fighting racial, gender and other discrimination. Rosanne Avilés, the 2005 Fellow, will be the 2005 Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a Chicago non-governmental organization. Rosanne is the first CLS graduate to receive the Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship. She has already done substantial civil rights work at the U.S. Department of Justice, Conectas Human Rights in Brazil, and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs.
The Strine Fellowship is awarded to a graduate who shows exceptional dedication and potential for contribution to public interest law and is devoted to providing legal services to indigent Native Americans and/or to the use of the law to further Indian rights. Katherine Morgan is the 2005 Strine Fellow. A member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, Katherine is continuing a family legacy of tribal leadership. She will be an associate at the D.C. office of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, which represents tribes across the U.S.
