The LSU Law students selected for a Dean’s Council 2023-24 PILS Fellowship are (from left to right, top row to bottom): Rochelle Bogle, Matthew Broussard, Alvaro de la Cruz-Correa, Miriam Grant, Summer Knight, Kayla Meyers, Sarah Scott, Olugbemisola Soyebo, Tonya Verhaal, and Britney Young.
Along with providing LSU Law students with direct scholarship support, tuition waivers, and funding for public interest field placements and advocacy competition travel throughout each academic year, the Dean’s Council is generously providing funds for 10 Public Interest Law Society (PILS) Fellowships this summer.
The fellowships are designed to provide a modest financial incentive to students who are pursuing unpaid or low-paid summer positions that serve the public, such as legal service providers or nonprofit organizations. Students benefitting from this summer’s PILS fellowships will practice across the United States in a variety of positions, from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia to the Colorado Springs Public Defender’s Office. Those selected for fellowships this summer are (learn more about each student by clicking on their name):
- Rochelle Bogle
- Matthew Broussard
- Alvaro de la Cruz-Correa
- Miriam Grant
- Summer Knight
- Kayla Meyers
- Sarah Scott
- Olugbemisola Soyebo
- Tonya Verhaal
- Britney Young
The LSU Law chapter of PILS was established in 1974, and at least six PILS fellowships have been available to students since the 2004-05 academic year. This year marks the first time the Dean’s Council is providing funding for all the fellowships.
Rising 3L and 2023-24 PILS President William “Grey” Fitzgerald said he wouldn’t have been able to work with the public defender’s office in Sarasota, Florida last summer were it not for the funding provided through his PILS Fellowship.
“If I weren’t able to participate last summer, then I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Fitzgerald, who returned to the same position this summer, this time with funding from the public defender’s office. “That door would not have been opened for me.”
Through his fellowship, Fitzgerald got hands-on experience defending clients in the criminal courtroom and experienced the severe need for legal professionals in the public interest arena.
“It wasn’t something I necessarily saw myself doing at the beginning of law school, but it became clear very quickly that it was the thing I would end up doing out of law school,” he said.
Stories like Fitzgerald’s reflect the importance of public interest fellowships and the impact they can have on a law student’s eventual career trajectory.
“Fellowships, by their design, give students a realistic opportunity to discover their passion in the sphere of academia,” said 3L and 2023-24 Fellowships and Careers Chair Ryan McNeil. “Without the fellowship, PILS would have no redress towards folks who ask the difficult, but effective question: “How can I help disadvantaged folks when I have my own bills to worry about?”
