[4 min read] The journey of one Blackstone intern
|
| Ways to Get Involved |
Dear webmaster220,
Not all law students first dreamed of being lawyers.
Rebekah Durham, an intern with the Blackstone Legal Fellowship this past summer, dreamed of a fast-paced life as a chef. And she turned that dream into a reality. Throughout college, she worked full-time in a restaurant. It was grueling—and rewarding. She learned the value of hard work.
But dreams change. And so did Rebekah's.
"Working in a restaurant is very challenging. And the culture of a kitchen can be difficult to navigate as a Christian. But I learned the value of hard work," she says. "By the time I graduated from college, I realized that I wanted to do something else that would serve God and His kingdom."
Her mom, who Rebekah says knows her better than anyone, told her that she should go to law school.
Rebekah was waitlisted by four law schools and accepted by the University of Cincinnati College of Law. "I had been praying for months that God would show me where to go, and this was such a clear sign from Him."
As she started law school, many people told her how much work it would be. But hard work didn't scare her. "I only cried once for the amount of work that I had to do in my first year," Rebekah jokes.
She loves that everyone who's in law school actually wants to be there. And there seems to always be someone willing to have a debate.
But it wouldn't be long before her legal writing touched a nerve—and some of her classmates no longer wanted to hear her voice. | | | | Engaging the Tough Issues
Soon, Rebekah was intersecting with Alliance Defending Freedom in many different ways.
While working on a research project on one of ADF's female athlete cases, she ran across the case of Dr. Nicholas Meriwether.
Shawnee State University officials had punished Dr. Meriwether because he declined a male student's demand to be referred to as a woman, with feminine titles and pronouns. When she found out about the case, it was on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
"The opinion by the lower court that let the school punish Dr. Meriwether was so obviously wrong," Rebekah says.
Interested in the case and what it meant for academic freedom and free speech, she reached out to the ADF Allied Attorneys involved in the case to discuss it.
Around the same time, a Blackstone alumnus from her law school invited ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence to speak at an event held on Zoom about the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia U.S. Supreme Court case.
But there was a huge backlash. Students and faculty erupted in protest to have an ADF attorney appear even virtually at the event.
Signatures were gathered. Demands were made. And, eventually, the event was canceled. (The student group tried to have Jordan back for another event months later, but he was disinvited again due to student protests.)
"Law school is a place for debate. So I wasn't really expecting that to happen," she says.
As she continued to research the Meriwether case and write an article critiquing the decision for the school's law review blog, the Allied Attorneys graciously put her in touch with Tyson Langhofer. Tyson serves as Senior Counsel and Director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, and he represents Dr. Meriwether. | | | | A Life-Changing Conversation …
"My phone call with Tyson was a turning point in my life. He helped me realize that people need truth," Rebekah says. "If we lie to them, that's not loving. As a Christian, I don't believe it's right to hide the truth from others."
That phone call helped encourage her to write and publish the article on Dr. Meriwether's case. And that phone call also helped her to endure the response.
About three months after her article was published, a law student discovered it and wrote to the law review staff. The student asked that the law review take down the article because it was "harmful, hateful, and transphobic," among other things.
People—even friends—tried to get Rebekah to take the article down. She engaged with their thoughts, but she didn't back down. And thankfully, the law review staff didn't either. | | | | … and a Life-Changing Experience
While Rebekah was dealing with the fallout from her article on Dr. Meriwether's case, she applied to the Blackstone Legal Fellowship—and was accepted. She took part in Blackstone this past summer.
"It was so encouraging—beyond encouraging—to be in a room with others who believe and live the same things that you do."
With the support of people like you, Blackstone helps future leaders, like Rebekah, know that they are not alone. Now, she has a new network of allies and friends to call on for help when she's researching a tough case, or if she's dealing with an event being canceled because the speaker doesn't share the beliefs of the majority of the law school.
But Rebekah, chef-turned-lawyer, already has the key ingredient in making a difference in today's culture: courage.
"To say that Blackstone makes a difference is the biggest understatement you can say," she says. "It's completely life-changing and life-altering."
Blackstone brings together the best Christian law students from around the United States—students like Rebekah—and helps inspire them to reimagine their careers as a way of serving God.
If you want to see more future leaders like Rebekah trained and equipped to change the legal culture for Christ, please give a gift today.
Blackstone, with your support, will continue to change the world around us. | | | | |
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.
Subscription Information
*the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally
Posts
.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/quality,q_70/resize,m_mfit,w_350,h_350/format,webp)
No comments:
Post a Comment