2014 Whitehurst Summer Fellows with Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst. From left to right: Chris Larson, ’15; Stephanie Whitehurst; Bill Whitehurst, ’70; Kelsey Chapple, ’16; Paul McDaniel, ’15; Nora Gay, ’15; Hensleigh Crowell, ’16; and Hannah Alexander, ’16
Six students at The University of Texas School of Law have been selected as the 2014 Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellows. The $4,250 fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding students who are committed to public service and are pursuing summer public interest work.
The fellowships are made possible by a gift from Bill Whitehurst, ’70, and his wife Stephanie, and are administered by the law school’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law. Each year, the Whitehursts name the fellowships for lawyers and others they admire in hopes the recipients will be inspired by the honorees’ work in public interest.
“The Whitehurst Fellowship Program provides great opportunities for our students to help increase access to justice and build their professional career paths,” said Eden Harrington, director of the Justice Center. “We are very grateful to Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst for their generous support of our students and the law school.”
In 2014, the following students have been selected to receive fellowships:
Hannah Alexander, ’16, has been awarded the Emilee Dawn Whitehurst Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin. At the law school, Alexander is involved in the Public Interest Law Association, the American Constitution Society, OUTLaw and the Human Rights Law Society. She has been involved in various pro bono projects and is a Travis County deputy voter registrar.
Kelsey Chapple, ’16, has been awarded the Lulu Flores Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s litigation and law department in Washington, D.C. Chapple is on the executive board of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She is involved in the Public Interest Law Association and the American Constitution Society and has participated in several pro bono projects.
Hensleigh Crowell, ’16, has been awarded the Beverly G. Reeves Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. Crowell volunteers for the Texas Defender Service in Austin and is involved in Texas Law Fellowships and the Public Interest Law Association.
Nora Gay, ’15, has been awarded the Elizabeth Pipkin Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at the Texas Defender Service in Austin. Last summer she worked for the Washington Defender Association in Seattle and during the school year she worked with the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin. She has participated in the Juvenile Justice Clinic, served as articles editor of the Texas Journal of Woman and the Law, and is involved in a number of other student organizations.
Chris Larson, ’15, has been awarded the Jamal K. Alsaffar Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. Last summer he worked in the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. He has participated in the Transnational Worker Rights Clinic and is manuscript editor of the American Journal of Criminal Law.
Paul McDaniel, ’15, has been awarded the Laurie M. Higginbotham Public Interest Law Fellowship to work at the Federal Public Defenders Office in San Antonio. He has participated in the Actual Innocence Clinic and served as administrative editor of the Texas Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties. He interned with a federal magistrate judge in Chicago last summer and served in the U.S. Army before attending college.
For more information about the Whitehurst Fellowship Program, contact: Mary Crouter, William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, 512-232-7855, mcrouter@law.utexas.edu.