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Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP)
Overview
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Auction
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Overview
The Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP) at the Villanova University School of Law provides financial support to students who commit their summers to public service legal work. Many law students, dedicated to helping the less fortunate, are limited by financial constraints. Similarly, public interest organizations often cannot afford to hire much needed summer legal interns. Through fundraising, PIFP provides summer fellowships to Villanova Law students, who in turn aid the larger community through their work with various public interest organizations.
An entirely student-run organization, PIFP fundraises for its student fellowships through a variety of creative endeavors. The ultimate highlight of the fundraising efforts, however, is the PIFP Auction, held each spring at Villanova, which raises money by selling items tirelessly solicited by students (and faculty) throughout the school year. Celebrating the Eleventh Anniversary of PIFP, this year’s auction will be held on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. The first auction, held in April 1998, raised $19,000 and awarded six summer fellowships. As a symbol of PIFP growth and continued success, last year’s auction raised over $60,000, providing ten students with summer fellowships in the amount of $4500, as well as funding our first ever post-graduate fellowship. Last year marked the beginning of PIFP’s formal commitment to Villanova graduates intending to pursue public interest careers through its Loan Repayment Assistance Program. Now, in addition to its summer fellowships, PIFP will award one fellowship each year, totaling $12,000, to a graduating student committed to working for a public service organization or governmental agency.
Since its founding, PIFP has raised over $365,000 and has awarded a total of 86 summer fellowships. Prior fellowship recipients have worked at organizations throughout the world, including Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, Women Against Abuse Legal Center, Greater Boston Legal Services, the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the California Appellate Project, the Homeless Advocacy Project, Pennsylvania Health Law Project, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as various district attorney’s offices throughout the country.
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© 2004 VLS Public Interest Fellowship Program
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