Donors from the 2021 Buckeye Funder:

I just wanted to provide a quick update that our 2022 Buckeye Funder initiative is now live here: https://buckeyefunder.osu.edu/project/29641.  We launched last week, and the campaign will go for a month.  

Thanks to all of you who have already donated again!

Many thanks

Christopher J. Walker

John W. Bricker Professor of Law

The Ohio State University

I didn't get my first choice for the 2018 D.C. Summer Program. To this day, I'm grateful I didn't. What I did get was a legal and professional crash course from some of most intelligent, considerate, hard-working people I've ever had the privilege to meet. When prospective students join up with the program, Professor Walker meets with them and finds out not just their legal goals and desires but what makes them tick before and beyond law school. That's how he knew that working for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations under Sen. Rob Portman's staff was the perfect place for me.

I used my background as a reporter to work on investigations and reports of such importance, I was stunned that a rising 2L was allowed to even know about them, let alone work on them. In addition, I had the opportunity to hone my legal writing skills in time-sensitive situations. Every single person in my office made a concerted effort to take time to give me insight into their expertise and offer their wisdom. Because Professor Walker knows which environments and people will best help D.C. Summer Program students grow as lawyers and professionals.

 But the financial side of things needs assistance from donors like you. Despite having some savings from five years of income prior to law school, living cheaply, and a supportive family, the D.C. bill was still considerable. For others not so fortunate, the door of the D.C. Program may remain shut. This program opened doors for me that I know would have otherwise remained closed. Please consider donating to help open this amazing door to many more students by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Frank Bumb

Moritz Class of 2020

During the summer of 2019, I worked in the Chief Counsel’s office at the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). I had no background in transportation law, just a desire to learn what it was like to work in the federal government. Without the D.C. Program, I wouldn’t have been able to take on such an incredible summer position. Working with the FHWA made me realize that I wanted to spend my legal career in government, and is the reason I’m on that career path now.

I know that I would not have been able to obtain my 2L summer job at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in the Department’s prestigious Summer Law Intern Program without my first summer’s breadth of experiences on my resume. My D.C. summer experience set me on a path through each branch of the government (state legislative, federal judicial, and several more executive agency experiences), which led me to my upcoming post-graduate clerkship with the Supreme Court of Vermont. I plan to go back to D.C. once my time clerking is over—hopefully returning to the federal government. I wouldn’t be where I am now without Professor Walker and the D.C. Program.

One of the only stressors for me when deciding to the doing the program was the cost. I decided that the advantage to my career would far outweigh the extra loans taken on—and it has. But it would be incredible if costs for current D.C. Program students could be supplemented by generous donations from people like you.

Donate here if you can.

Sincerely,

Brittney Welch (she/her)

Moritz Class of 2021

Check out Rachel's experience in the 2019 Summer DC Program:

I was a member of the 2019 D.C. Summer cohort, working at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law's Fair Housing & Community Development Team. I came to law school because I wanted to do civil rights work after spending a number of years as a policy researcher in Chicago. I knew I wanted to spend my first summer at a public interest organization doing impact litigation, and the D.C. Program allowed me to do just that. Spending my first summer at LCCRUL made a huge impact on my career path. I found my 2L summer job at the Office of the Solicitor General for the District of Columbia because of the networking opportunities I had that summer. Moreover, it set me on a path to work in public interest organizations across the country. LCCRUL let me spend my first summer advancing civil liberties through impact litigation, and it helped me land jobs at the Urban Justice Center, Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights, and more afterward. I'll always appreciate the jump-start to my career I got because of the D.C. Program.

Funding scholarships like these will make an enormous impact for D.C. students. Right now, many students from less represented identities (e.g., low-income, queer / gender nonconforming students, etc.) cannot afford to do the program out-of-pocket or by taking on more loans. The funding you put into the program can save students a load of debt that would make it difficult to take on unpaid or underpaid positions. You help them get a seat at the table, whether in government agencies, nonprofits, or otherwise. And, if they have a seat at the table, their crucial but often unseen perspectives will make for more humane, more diverse and inclusive policy down the road.

Donate here if you can.

Sincerely,

Megan Porter

Moritz Class of 2021