Introduction

It does frustrate many of us on the faculty who care deeply about public service and public interest work that we seem to take in young people who come here with an idealistic commitment to those matters and graduate three years later, bound to the private sector. —Peter Edelman, Professor of Law (Public Interest Handbook, 1988)

The institutional phenomenon described by Professor Edelman is as prevalent and devastating to today's law students as it was five years ago. The Equal Justice Foundation (EJF) has written this report, because we have seen too many of our peers lose the struggle to do what they want to in their heart—use their education to serve the community. EJF has documented the needs of students and the institutional barriers they face at Georgetown in pursuing a career in public interest law. These barriers prevent Georgetown from living up to its responsibility to its students and the broader legal community. As a result, Georgetown has fallen behind its peer schools in supporting and facilitating public interest law. We believe that addressing these barriers must become a major priority for this institution.

This report has two goals. First, we identify the institutional problems which currently prevent or inhibit students' pursuit of public interest careers. We believe that members of the faculty and administration may not be aware that these problems exist, or know the tremendous impact they have upon students. We realize that before this institution can effectively respond to these issues, it must first be educated as to the nature and extent of these problems.

Second, we seek to articulate the means to address these problems. In this report we describe our vision for a revitalized public interest community at Georgetown. We believe that this institution must create a strong, vibrant atmosphere which is supportive of public interest—a community that students can identify and feel a part of as students and as alumni. This report describes the steps Georgetown must undertake to implement this vision.