WWU / Fairhaven College of Interdiscipinary Studies

A thematic Speaker Series each quarter features a diverse group of legal scholars and advocates who inspire students to pursue careers in law and social justice advocacy. Recent themes include:

• Human Rights and Civil Liberties
• Elections and Social Justice
• Children and the Law

In addition to the Speaker Series, we provide funding for students to attend legal conferences and visit law schools around the state.

We are seeking community support to establish a scholarship fund for LDJ students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This fund will make it possible for the Center to better serve students and disadvantaged communities by breaking down the financial barriers that many students face in pursuing a legal education.

• Support from a modest scholarship fund specifically dedicated to helping students to prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) exam through LSAT prep courses. A good score on the LSAT is a critical factor in determining whether or not a student is accepted into law school.
• In spring 2009, we launched our own in-house LSAT Prep course featuring a specialized instructor to offer personalized, small group instruction to our Law, Diversity & Justice concentrators. We also hire CLDJ work-study students to proctor practice tests, which are crucial in helping our students prepare for the real thing. LDJ students are asked to make sliding-scale contributions to cover these costs, but the hands-on personalized approach of the program is costly to maintain. Philanthropic funding supports our students in their pursuit of a legal education.

As of spring 2009, ten local attorneys are participating in a structured mentorship program for Law, Diversity & Justice students hoping to become lawyers. We are seeking volunteer attorneys to continue to mentor students, to work with student interns, and to conduct workshops at Fairhaven on aspects of the legal profession.

If you are an attorney interested in mentoring a student, we'd love to talk to you. Please email Niall O'Murchu.

Students concentrating in Law, Diversity & Justice benefit immensely from internships with the Public Defenders’ Office, the Assistant Attorney General’s Office, Law Advocates, local and state-wide organizations including Northwest Justice Project, Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project, the ACLU of Washington, and the Reentry Coalition, and with private attorneys. Many of our LDJ concentrators are first generation students from under-represented backgrounds.

Scholarships allow our students to afford the opportunity cost of devoting themselves fully to a professional development internship while completing an academic term or during summer quarter.

Court Watch

The Whatcom County Court Watch's (WCCW) mission is to encourage equal treatment for victims of domestic violence while students and the community learn about the judicial system through observation.

Community members are needed to serve as observers in the Whatcom County courts after taking the training, watching court on a weekly or every other week schedule and filling out observation sheets. Community members are encouraged to attend the weekly meeting with students to discuss the cases observed. Monetary contributions given to the Western Foundation are charitable donations that allow for the Court Watch to continue its operations. Please contact Professor Julie A. Helling to support the Whatcom Civil Rights Project and the Whatcom County Court Watch at Julie.Helling@wwu.edu.

Whatcom Civil Rights Project

Community members are needed to serve as advocates for the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force (WHRTF) and to answer calls at the WHTRTF office after under going training. Attorneys are needed to serve on the Attorney Review Panel, a quarterly panel that meets with the students to determine if the cases will be taken by the project. Attorneys are also needed to take the selected cases pro-bono.

About WCRP