PLEDGE Fellowship Cohorts and Capstones

Interested in applying for the next PLEDGE Fellowship cohort? Learn More. 
Questions? Contact [email protected].

AccessLex Institute^® and the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) partnered in 2021 to create the Professionals in Legal Education Developing Greater Equity (PLEDGE) Fellowship with the aim of supporting law school professionals and a purpose to help foster diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environments within law schools.

PLEDGE, a 14-month professional development program and program-based research project, targets law school administrators, faculty members, and other similarly experienced professionals. Teams of two Fellows per law school undertake program assessments called Capstones, using empirical research methods focusing on Admission and Access, Academic Performance, or Bar Exam Performance. Learn more about PLEDGE and how to apply.

American University Washington College of Law/Georgetown University Law Center

Capstone: Measuring the impact of participation in the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project on the development of lawyering skills and professional identity formation among law students. 

• Camille Thompson, Director, Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project (American)
• Charisma X. Howell, Director, Street Law (Georgetown)

Loyola University Maryland

Capstone: Assessing the efficacy of the Preparation for Admittance to Laws School (PALS) Program in preparing underrepresented students to successfully gain admission to law school.

• Matt Beverlin, Assistant Teaching Professor
• Douglas Harris, Professor

Cooley Law School 

Capstone: Piloting methods for promoting and fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging among law students who serve as peer-to-peer educators in the law school’s Dean’s Fellow Program.

• Lesley Cremeans, Assistant Director of The Learning Center
• Tonya Krause-Phelan, Associate Dean of Academics

Indiana University Maurer School of Law

• Fellows: Aviva Orenstein and Katherine A. Beck
• Capstone: Assessing the impact of different teaching methods and assignment types in preparing students for bar exam success.

Saint Louis University School of Law

• Fellows: Belinda Dantley and Jean Pierre Bonnet-Laboy
• Capstone: Assessing the effectiveness of extracurricular programming in building social capital and legal profession knowledge among first-generation, first-year law students. 

Wayne State University Law School

• Fellows: Michelle D. Taylor and Tierney Eaton Hoffman
• Capstone: Assessing the impact of cohort learning on the sense of belonging and academic performance of first-year law students. 

American University Washington College of Law

• Fellows: Lisa Sonia Taylor and Joni Wiredu
• Capstone: Efficacy of a cohort- and coaching-based bar exam preparation program for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law

• Fellows: Eurilynne Anise Williams and Marlese Wells
• Capstone: Efficacy of two interventions designed to improve analysis, reading, and writing skills among students who experience academic difficulty. 

Seattle University School of Law

• Fellows: Isabel Freitas Peres and Lily Su
• Capstone: Efficacy of a bar exam intervention aimed at improving performance on multiple-choice problems among students who enter law school with low LSAT scores.