As a Skadden Fellow, I focus on school policing and school discipline disparities that Black girls with disabilities experience. Much of this work is informed by my experiences at Michigan Law.
Specifically, I was involved with a case after my 1L year when I worked with the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the Law School. The case involved race and disability discrimination at a local high school that did not properly accommodate a student’s disabilities; in addition, she was being bullied by one of her teachers. I wrote the demand letter about the racially hostile environment at the school.
That was really instrumental for me because I felt like I was able to connect with young people in a new way and hopefully be a part of their journey of self-advocacy and striving to make their lived experience at school better.
At the ACLU, I spend my days building up my fellowship project through outreach and brainstorming potential partnerships, and I hire and supervise interns for the Women’s Rights Project. I’m also working on other legal matters within the education equity and women’s rights realms to build the critical legal skills I need.
Michigan Law gave me confidence that I could do meaningful public interest work. My summer at the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative was critical to my development. Additionally, the Office of Career Planning helped in my 2L and postgraduate job searches and showed me the possibility of a career in civil rights impact litigation.
