Alliance for Social Justice

Slides from the Oct. 24, 2011 PBJ.

A new academic year with new public interest opportunities is nearly upon us. Watch the video below to learn more about the incredible work of Gonzaga’s law students promoting social justice and public service during the 2009-10 academic year.

Invite your friends and attend our “Public Interest Reception” this Wednesday, April 14 in the Community Building Lobby (35 W. Main St.) from 5:30-7:30pm.

“The Public Interest Reception” celebrates students, legal providers, and other members of our legal community who work together on behalf of at-risk and under-represented clients. Student organizations will be recognized for their dedication to advancing public interest goals.

Please join us for a relaxing time in a casual setting with food and drink. Faculty, students, legal service providers and the GU Alliance Council will be there to chat with you and listen to your unique perspective. And don’t forget to invite your friends!

On Saturday, March 20th, the Alliance for Social Justice will host an “All-school Community Service Day.” Please join your fellow classmates and faculty members to make this event a great success! Registration will take place in the lobby from March 1st – 3rd.

Make a positive difference in the Spokane community by helping local nonprofits and community organizations serve the public. Complete mandatory community service hours. Plus, the student organization with the most participation will be awarded at the annual Public Interest Banquet in April.

Volunteer opportunities include:

• St. Margaret’s Shelter: Help serve meals or cultivate vegetables in the Shelter Garden
• Horizon Hospice: Help deliver flowers in pairs to the bereaved
• Cancer Patient Care: Help paint offices
• SpokAnimal: Help walk dogs and play with cats
• Habitat for Humanity: Help organize their community store
• Spokane Parks and Recreation: Help clean-up a park

Sign-up in the lobby or contact Bil Childress, Chelsea Williams, or Matt Serres to complete your registration. We look forward to seeing you out in the community on March 20th!

The Clinical Law Department is currently accepting applications for Summer 2010 and Fall 2010 Semesters. Learn lawyer responsibilities and decision making, develop legal skills, learn legal doctrine analysis and application, and provide access to justice. Applications accepted February 16 thru March 19, 2010. Pick up your application packet in the lobby or contact Julie Claar in the clinic – Suite 101.

The University of Oregon will be hosting the 28th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference February 25-28.  To learn more please visit http://www.pielc.org

Tickets for GPILP’s annual auction benefiting Gonzaga students engaging in public interest legal work are currently on sale. The event will be held next Friday night, February 26. Tickets are $25 with the price including your choice of dinner (including dessert), an open wine/beer bar, and live music, along with the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction items.

Nearly half of the student tickets have already been sold! Stop by the table in the lobby and purchase your tickets today.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is teaming up with the Gonzaga Journal of International Law for a wonderful public service activity this weekend: The ALDF/GKIL Dog Walk. The Dog Walk will be held at the Spokane Humane Society at 6607 N. Havana Street on Saturday from 1-4pm. RSVP to ajaquette@lawschool.gonzaga.edu

If this is your first time volunteering at the Humane Society this year, their staff will be conducting a mandatory half-hour training session beginning at 1pm. If you have already been certified as a “Woof Walker,” you may start walking at 1pm. It is recommended that you bring gloves, as the leashes can bother your hands after awhile.

Mission Possible will be hosting their 2nd Annual Pub Crawl Friday, February 19. Tickets are on sale from 10am – 2pm thru Friday. The event includes appetizers, a Fireweed Beer or Leprachaun Shot at O’Dohertys as well as drink specials at Marque, Blue Spark, Mootsey’s, Monterrey Cafe, and The BLVD.

All proceeds benefit the student organization’s efforts to complete service projects in poverty-stricken communities abroad and at home. Over the years, Mission Possible has completed community service in Honduras and offered hurricane relief in New Orleans.

On March 6 and 7, 2010, the University of Oregon School of Law will host the Trina Grillo Retreat, an annual event that is co-sponsored by a consortium of eleven western law schools and the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT). The purpose of the Retreat is to bring together law students, faculty members, career counselors, administrators, activist lawyers, and other interested persons to explore current issues of legal and social justice, discuss opportunities to engage in public-interest projects or careers, and exchange information and share experiences with each other.

Visit http://www.law.uoregon.edu/grillo/ to register or learn more.