Four Southeast undergrads to participate in Federal Justice Fellowship pilot program

Four Southeast Missouri State University students were chosen to participate in the first Federal Judge Fellowship this summer at the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. United States Courthouse in Cape Girardeau.

Southeast alumna Judge Abbie Crites-Leoni said the program has been a dream of hers for five years that has finally came to fruition.

The four-week program is modeled after the Judge Reginald C. Lindsay Fellowship with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which Crites-Leoni said she learned of about half a decade ago. As similar fellowships are often unavailable for undergraduate students, she said, Crites-Leoni wanted to create that opportunity for Southeast students to explore a career in law.

“It’s in part what I think would provide a complete bird’s-eye view of the system and give them more or less a law school-type bootcamp experience, so they can understand the rigors and challenges that are provided in law school, to see if that excites and motivates and inspires them to further their education in the legal field,” she said.

Raven Cole, Katherine Carter, Antonio Barner and Drew Beussink were chosen to participate in the summer program, according to a news release from Southeast. Beussink of Cape Girardeau said he hopes to gain a better understanding of the career he’s looking to pursue.

“I hope that it makes me more familiar with how the federal justice system works in this country and the way federal courts operate, and I hope it gives me a better insight if I would be a good fit in working in the field of law,” he said.

Crites-Leoni said she spent the past four to five years gathering ideas for the curriculum for the “intense” fellowship program, which she said she fully developed this year.

During the four-week fellowship, the students will meet with Southeast associate professor of political science Laura Hatcher three times a week to develop legal writing skills. Students will also be assigned reading materials from pivotal Supreme Court and Eight Circuit Court of Appeals cases, as well as instructed to watch films dealing with legal issues such as “The Social Network” and “The Paper Chase,” based on those cases. Discussion groups will further students’ understanding of the cases, Crites-Leoni said.

Beussink said he hopes the fellowship will allow him to explore several aspects of legal work — especially the differences between private practice and public service. A rising junior at Southeast, Beussink said he’s leaning toward serving the public.

“I want to help people. I’m not in it to just make money, or for glory or influence. I want to make a difference in the community,” he said. “I feel like getting a law degree is a good vessel to creating change in the community.”

Students will also be given the opportunity to shadow professionals from agencies working directly in the court, Crites-Leoni said. The program’s objective is to provide an opportunity for undergraduate students considering a future in law to explore the career, she said

“This is to give them a real sense of not only the law but what a career in the legal field would be like — the intensity of it and the demands,” Crites-Leoni said.

The program will run July 20 to Aug. 14.