Twelve AUWCL Students Spend Spring Break Volunteering in Navajo Nation
Making a Difference: Students Contribute to Real Legal Work in Indian Country
Twelve American University Washington College of Law students spent their spring breaks completing volunteer work in the Navajo Nation. This marks the 11th year AUWCL students took part in this Alternative Spring Break Trip as part of the Program on Environmental and Energy Law (PEEL). The students volunteered their time at three placement sites including DNA-People's Legal Services,* the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
This year, Imari (Zaphyr) Brooks, Sierra Kennedy, Asad Imam, Taylor Martin, Chelsea Naylor, Devyn Malouf, Jillian Mayer and Nia Coleman worked with DNA-People's Legal Services; Bruce Leal, Katherine Pratty and Hunter Garcia worked with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice; and Murphy (Yangbin) Chen worked with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. Mayer and Leal organized the trip.
Mayer was searching for something meaningful and different to do during her spring break.
“I was hoping to travel to somewhere beautiful but not totally go on vacation,” she said. “I planned the trip because I wanted to go!”
Mayer enjoyed the first-hand insight she and the other students received.
“It was a wonderful reality check and re-grounding moment,” she said. “We were able to learn and contribute to real, active legal work happening in Indian Country.”
As the faculty advisor for the trip, Professor Ezra Rosser used his long-standing ties with the Navajo Nation to facilitate student placements. Other staff and faculty help came from PEEL Program Coordinator Ingrid Lessemen, Professor William Snape and Professor David Hunter. Funding for the trip was provided by the Student Bar Association (SBA) and PEEL.
“As always, I am grateful that the school and SBA continue to support this alternative spring break trip. Tribes are the forgotten third type of sovereign within the United States and it is great that students get to have this experience during their time at WCL,” according to Rosser.
*DNA is an acronym for the Navajo phrase "Diné be’iiná Náhiilna be Agha’diit’ahii" which means “attorneys who work for the economic revitalization of The People.”
~Story by Liz Newton.