Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowships

Photo of 2019 Whitehurst Summer Fellows — 2019 Whitehurst Summer Fellows (l-r) Natalie Neill ’20, Elizabeth Jones ’20, Ashley Berry ’20, Savannah Kumar ’20, Brendan Van Winkle ’20, and Meredith Luneack ’20

The Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowships Program provides summer funding for students between their second and third years of law school. Preference is given to students who intend to pursue careers in public interest law. The program addresses these students’ particular need to work in public interest positions during the summer before their third year of school in order to be viable candidates for public interest fellowships and jobs following graduation.

In summer 2022, the program will provide a stipend of $6,000 for up to 5 students for at least 10 weeks (and a minimum of 400 hours) of work under the supervision of an attorney at a qualified sponsoring organization. A sponsoring organization must be 1) a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit providing legal services and/or advocacy to underrepresented individuals or communities or 2) a government office providing indigent defense. Government agencies (except offices providing indigent defense), labor unions, and legislative offices do not qualify as a sponsoring organization.

These fellowships are supported by a generous multi-year gift from Stephanie Whitehurst and Bill Whitehurst, ‘70. Each summer, the Whitehursts name the fellowships for lawyers and others they admire in hopes that the recipients will be inspired by the honorees’ work in the public interest. In the summer of 2021, the Whitehursts named the fellowships in honor of Pablo J. Almaguer, Richard and Suzanne Burbidge, Lia Sifuentes Davis, Jeff Edwards, Lamont A. Jefferson, and Jo Ann Merica.

For more information, please email: spsp@law.utexas.edu

Application Information

This fellowship is awarded through the Summer Public Service Program (SPSP). For summer 2022 eligibility and application information, visit the SPSP Apply page.

SPSP applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and each approved student will be notified by email. Applications received by noon on March 11, 2022, will be considered for named fellowships. The final deadline for all applications is midnight on May 13, 2022.