For the Second Year, Making a Difference Trumps Getting a Tan
University of Idaho Press Release Jan. 24, 2008
Law Students Expand Scope of Alternative Spring Break
MOSCOW, Idaho – Last spring, 14 University of Idaho College of Law students headed for post-Katrina New Orleans to unwind. Specifically, to unwind the red tape that tends to bundle into a Gordian knot when governmental, social and legal infrastructures are swept away.
The students participated in Alternative Spring Break, helping victims of Hurricane Katrina to untangle legal issues and providing manual labor, free of charge.
It’s a decidedly different kind of spring break.
“The trip was a success because it was both eye-opening and a great application of our legal skills,” wrote now second-year law student Jordan Taylor in a recent letter to University of Idaho President Tim White. “We were actually helping people, not just discussing legal theory. Everybody that went on that trip will confirm two things about their experience: one, they had never seen anything like it; and two, the trip impacted their lives in a big way.”
A case in point, Taylor now is pursuing a law degree, and career, focused on public interest law. He currently is president of the student-led Public Interest Law Group (PILG) in the College of Law. The PILG is working with the college’s Law School Student Bar Association, led by President Anna Faller, to raise funds for an expanded Alternative Spring Break program this year.
Twenty-five Idaho law students have already applied to participate in Alternative Spring Break 2008, set for March 10-14. Students hope to raise $7,000 to finance the trip. The Dean’s Office in the College of Law and the Univeristy of Idaho President’s Office each have promised matching funds up to $7,000. The $21,000 total covers airfare and lodging for participants.
This year, students will return to New Orleans, La., venture into nearby Biloxi, Miss., and also provide pro-bono services in Boise and Washington, D.C.
In New Orleans and Biloxi, students will help victims secure and maintain FEMA benefits, and will deal with foreclosures, insurance disputes, and disputes with landlords and contractors. They also will provide manual labor.
In Boise, students will work with Idaho Legal Aid, the ACLU, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, the State of Idaho Appellate Public Defender, Advocates for the West, and the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.
In Washington, D.C., students will work with the National Veterans Legal Service Program.
At their Gulf Coast destinations, Idaho law students will partner with the Student Hurricane Network (SHN), a national association formed to provide legal assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims. Through the SHN, more than 3,000 law students from 110 law schools have traveled to the Gulf Coast to provide pro-bono service in the past two years.
A University of Idaho third-year law student, Faller looks forward to joining their ranks.
“There will be ample opportunity in our lives to take vacations,” said Faller. “Students who choose to go on an Alternative Spring Break trip do so because of the opportunity to positively impact the lives of others. The experience allows us to spend a week providing legal services to those truly in need.”
To support Alternative Spring Break, send donations to: University of Idaho, College of Law, P.O. Box 442321, Moscow, ID 83844-2321. For more information, contact Taylor at Jordan.taylor@vandals.uidaho.edu. Please type PILG in the memo line.
