Local Bar Associations, Student Organizations Fund Students' Public-Service Work
The Bar Foundations from Arlington County, the Virginia Law Foundation, the Virginia State Bar, Criminal Law Section, and the Fairfax Law Foundation–on which many Scalia Law alumni serve–have once again come out to support students and clinics at Scalia Law. The majority of the funding from the four organizations went to summer stipends for students doing public service work for a range of government and nonprofit employers, including for example Just Neighbors, the Arlington Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, the Richmond Public Defender’s Office, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. Law alumni also stepped up by contributing to the Ilissa Belanger Summer Stipend Scholarship Fund.
The Ilissa Belanger stipends went to students working for the Holocaust Art Restitution Project and Army JAG. Faculty, staff and students also contributed over $20,000 for the annual Pro Bono Society auction, which provided summer stipends to 13 students. Haley Brechwald is president of the Society and is pictured above with Manasa Chilakala, a stipend recipient.
Some of these foundations have been donating for over 25 years; others for more than a decade. “Many in the law school and local legal community make a real difference each year by contributing to summer stipends,” says Victoria Huber, Associate Dean for Professional Development. “The stipends ease the financial burdens for so many students so they can pursue unpaid internships. In return, the students not only gain valuable legal and professional skills, but they contribute directly to the important work done by so many public sector employers. I am so grateful that each year we have seen the stipend pool grow.”
Additionally, the Arlington County Bar Foundation donated $1,000 to the Mason Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS) to support the important work that M-VETS does to assist veterans in Arlington and throughout Northern Virginia.