Academics
Providing opportunities for engagement with civil and human rights to every student remained the Klau Institute’s primary focus. From offering a full academic minor to funding research and supporting student activities, our mission to cultivate a well-informed student body found expression in a wide variety of activities in 2022-23.
Melsheimer Fellows Initiative
Thanks to a generous gift from Thomas and Michelle Melsheimer of Dallas, Texas, the Klau Institute created the Melsheimer Fellows Initiative in May 2023. This experiential learning fellowship will provide support for students pursuing internships, service-learning, and educational encounters with underprivileged and underrepresented communities in the United States and around the globe.
“There is a continuing imperative for Notre Dame to be at the forefront of an issue that is a cornerstone of a just society—the advancement of civil and human rights at home and abroad,” Melsheimer said. “We wanted to advance this cause by helping provide what we hope will be perspective-altering experiential learning opportunities for Notre Dame students in a broad array of contexts. In so doing, we hope to assist in creating the kind of moral leaders Fr. Hesburgh envisioned as being critical to a just, peaceful, and prosperous society.”
Inaugural Melsheimer Fellow
Rising senior Abigail Lamm was named the inaugural Melsheimer Fellow. A supplementary major in global affairs at the Keough School, Lamm also serves as research assistant to professor Zoltán Búzás in his International Race and Rights Lab. During the summer of 2023 she participated in the Institute of World Politics’ internship program in Washington, DC., where she assisted with civil and human rights-related research.
Minor in Civil and Human Rights
In its inaugural year, our new minor in civil and human rights met with an enthusiastic student response. Thirteen students declared the minor, representing fields of study ranging from Biology, Anthropology, Environmental Science, and Sociology to Global Affairs, Political Science, American Studies, and Music.
2023 Graduates
The Klau Institute was proud to celebrate the graduation of seven undergraduates who concentrated on civil and human rights within the Keough School’s supplementary major in global affairs. The 2023 graduates were:
Nick Crookston, Political Science and Global Affairs
Jacqueline Glago, Political Science and Global Affairs
Ronan King, Political Science and Global Affairs
Belen Riberas Orjales, Political Science and Global Affairs
Gabriela Rivera, Economics and Global Affairs
Claudia Rivera Alvarez-Tabio, Anthropology and Global Affairs
Grace Scartz, Arabic and Global Affairs
Rita Bahr Scholars
The Klau Institute is proud to administer the Rita Bahr Cari Memorial Fund, which supports human rights lawyers enrolled in the LL.M. Program in International Human Rights Law. The 2022-23 Rita Bahr Scholars were:
Carlos Martinez Roca, a Guatemalan human rights lawyer and advocate for mass atrocity victims in Guatemala.
Faisal Yamil Meneses, a Venezuelan human rights lawyer and assistant professor of constitutional law at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, with practice and research interests in transitional justice and refugee law.
Monserrat Camara Santos, a Mexican human rights lawyer working as Vice-Principal at the Technical Secretary against Torture and Other Cruel and Inhuman Treatment in the Federal Public Defender’s Office of Mexico.
Josemaria Rodriguez Conca, a Chilean human rights lawyer who served as head of the Department of Human Rights Protection Systems at the Chilean Ministry of Justice.
Klau Institute Summer Fellows
The Klau Institute provides support to Notre Dame law students working in public interest organizations that promote civil or human rights, and/or the enforcement of federal rights on behalf of underrepresented minorities. In its seventh year the program expanded to support more students than ever before. The 2023 Summer Fellows were:
Maria Hatzisavas, a second-year law student, served at Beyond Legal Aid in Chicago, Illinois.
Alexandra Lesnik, a second-year law student, served at Root and Rebound in Greenville, South Carolina.
Adam Miller, a first-year law student, clerked at the Innocence Project New Orleans.
Allison Morcus, a second-year law student, interned at Legal Aid Chicago.
Ayanna Murphy, a first-year law student, worked in the family law division of Ascend Justice in Chicago.
Daryl Naquin, a second-year law student, worked as a summer litigation intern at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City.
Student Research Funding
The Klau Institute was proud to provide support to young scholars from a wide range of disciplines.
Adeela Firdous conducted field work in Kashmir examining government suppression of academic freedom.
Benjamín Gracia attended the National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Perla Khattar attended the 2023 Technology, Media, and Privacy Conference.
Abby Lamm served an internship at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC.
Mayra Ortiz Ocana presented on ethical methodology in human rights at the Latin American Peace Science Society conference.
Anna Romandash presented on the role of media in saving democracies at human rights conference in Costa Rica.
Savannah Vetterly presented on healthcare disparities at the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council Conference.
Sr. Helen Prejean
Student affiliates were honored to share a private lunch conversation on March 24, 2023, with Sr. Helen Prejean, who spoke about her commitment to an activist life informed by her faith and concern for advocating for those most in need – particularly those incarcerated and faced with a death sentence.
Book Club
Offering students an opportunity to enrich their understanding of human rights topics through shared experience, we continued our book club in the 2022-23 year. Members read and participated in guided discussions of two books:
Fall 2022: Hidden Girl, a story of modern-day trafficking and household slavery in Egypt, by Shyima Hall.
Spring 2023: Dead Man Walking, the memoir of Sr. Helen Prejean’s commitment to advocating for those on death row.
Support for the Klau Institute book club was provided by the Pasquale Family Endowment for Excellence
Student Leadership Team
Spearheaded by program manager Erica Loding, the Klau Institute’s new Student Leadership Team initiative engages highly motivated students in a substantive way, encouraging students from a diverse range of backgrounds to help design institute programming.
“Until the creation of the SLT, all events were planned and executed by staff,” said Loding. “We saw an opportunity for students to serve as leaders – to build events around subjects they feel passionate about, to work collaboratively with their peers, and to have personal interactions with the scholars who present at events. For many students, Klau is a second home on campus.”