Eight named Liman fellows

Undergraduate students Rush Doshi ’11, Ashley Eberhart ’13, Sierra Gronewold ’11, Sarah Paige ’11 and Alicia Zeng ’12 and graduate students Susan Reid, Thomas Scott and Sarah Solon will spend 10 weeks this summer in service internships funded by the program. Undergraduate fellows will receive grants of $3,000 and graduate students will receive $4,000 each.

LAPA Associate Director Leslie Gerwin said that 20 students, mostly undergraduates, submitted applications to the program. The eight successful applicants demonstrated a “passion for service” that extended “beyond verbal commitment — the normal public service that people do for purposes of resume building,” she said.

Several of the students, including Eberhart, said they were surprised to learn that they had been chosen for the fellowship.  

“When the news came, I was on my dad’s iPhone on a road trip to Pittsburgh after finals week ... I screamed so loudly it’s a miracle he didn’t crash the car,” Eberhart said in an e-mail.

“My emotions ran the entire spectrum: honored, absolutely shocked, and most of all lucky,” she added.

Eberhart will intern at the Oglala Lakota Court Appointed Special Advocate program, which provides support to children involved in custody cases, foster care and abusive situations at the Oglala Lakota Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation.

“I knew that the only place I wanted to spend my summer was on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Shannon County, South Dakota ... During my Pace Center Breakout trip over Fall Break this year, I fell inescapably in love with the reservation and Lakota people,” Eberhart said.

Doshi, a Wilson School major, will be working at the State Department.

“Thanks to the Liman and [its] flexibility, I can actually explore the relationship between law and international affairs,” he said in an e-mail, adding that “without the Liman, that would have been really hard to do.”

Reid, who plans to be a public defender, will work with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California. There, she will focus on criminal justice cases, specifically those involving police brutality.

She noted that she is excited to attend the week-long conference, called “Imprisoned,” that will precede fellows’ internships. The colloquium, which will also be attended by government officials, will focus on topics related to incarceration and prison reform.  

“I was really excited because the conference is on imprisonment,” she said. “It will just be a great experience: the chance to hear what a great speaker has to say about important issues.”

But not all fellows have finalized their summer plans.  

“I have been in contact with several organizations, including Human Rights First and the ACLU,” Gronewold said in an e-mail.

Zeng has not secured a position either, but she said she is interested in pursuing environmental law and justice.

Gerwin noted that the fellowship comes with high expectations, since many past fellows have tackled large policy issues.

“A lot of the Liman [Fellows] have been people who have rolled up their sleeves and gone into the trenches,” she said.

Staff writer Randy Khalil contributed reporting.

Editor's Note: The headline for this article has been updated.

Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the class year of Alicia Zeng '12.