Six students have been selected as the 2019 Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellows. The $4,500 fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding students who are committed to public service to support their summer public interest work. The fellowships are made possible by a generous multi-year gift from Bill, ‘70, and Stephanie Whitehurst.
Each year the Whitehursts name the fellowships for lawyers and others they admire in hopes that the fellows will be inspired by the honorees’ work in the public interest. This year six individually named fellowships have been awarded to these members of the class of 2020:
The Berry Crowley Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Ashley Berry, who will work at Texas Appleseed in Austin analyzing recent legislation and developing policy, with a focus on school-to-prison pipeline and other educational equity issues.
The Jose P. Garza Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Natalie Neill, who will work at the Public Justice Center in Baltimore, Maryland on housing and workplace justice issues.
The Trish McAllister Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Savannah Kumar, who will work at Brooklyn Defender Services in Brooklyn, New York helping to represent parents involved in the child welfare system.
The Richard Pena Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Elizabeth Jones, who will work with the Alaska Public Defender Agency in Ketchikan, where her duties will include appearing in court on behalf of clients in pretrial matters and misdemeanor trials.
The Jane Rydholm Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Meredith Luneack, who will work at the Detroit Justice Center in Detroit, Michigan assisting clients with housing and employment issues.
The Howard Scher Public Interest Law Fellowship has been awarded to Brendan Van Winkle, who will work at The Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham helping to represent clients on North Carolina’s death row.