UNH Law launched the Warren B. Rudman Fellowship program four years ago by providing full-tuition scholarships to two entering students each year who have a demonstrated interest in public service, as part of the center’s mission to carry forward Senator Rudman’s legacy by training the next generation of public service leaders.
UNH Law has a complete roster of six Rudman Fellows on campus for the second consecutive year, and a clear picture of how powerful the fellowships have been for their recipients.
That impact has been experienced by graduating and first-year students alike. Stephanie Ramirez, a 2017 graduate who was one of the two inaugural Rudman Fellows, has earned a commission with the Navy JAG Corps, a “dream job” she credits Rudman Center support with helping facilitate; meanwhile, 2L Elizabeth Marcotte spent her first summer as a law student working as a legal intern for the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Gambia, Africa, after considering other opportunities in Liberia and Zimbabwe.
“The Rudman Fellowship has allowed me to commit myself to continuing to work in public service,” Marcotte said. “Last summer, I accepted an internship opportunity where I helped prepare human rights cases for litigation at three regional courts in Sub-Saharan Africa. I would never have been able to consider accepting the position without the support of the Rudman Center.”
Here’s a look at the Rudman Fellows:
Class of 2018?
Katherine Muzzy and Nicholas Higgins
Katherine Muzzy came to UNH Law after graduating from Saint Anselm College, where she volunteered as a crisis line advocate for the YWCA New Hampshire domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center. She completed a Rudman Summer Fellowship at New Hampshire Legal Assistance in 2016, gaining exposure to project areas such as housing, public benefits, and domestic violence, and through the Summer Fellowship program interned at the Children’s Law Center of California in Los Angeles last summer – two opportunities she said she wouldn’t have been able to pursue without Rudman Center support.
Nicholas Higgins tutored children in mathematics and English as a volunteer at an orphanage in Tanzania after graduating from college, and attended UNH Law to study health law and policy. He completed an internship at the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union as part of the Rudman Summer Fellowship program, and is a member of the Bernstein Shur Pro Bono Fellowship Program.
Class of 2019
Elizabeth Marcotte and Jack Bjorn
Marcotte spent five years at a Congressionally-funded human rights foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, before beginning law school, managing a grant-making program that provided funds to civil society organizations in West Africa. She sought admission to UNH Law because of the Rudman Fellowship and the opportunity it provided for her to further pursue a passion for public service and legal advocacy.
Jack Bjorn’s interest in public service was born out of a summer internship at the Penobscot County District Attorney’s office in Bangor, Maine, where he led a project on domestic violence victim engagement in the court system. Bjorn has taken advantage of networking opportunities created by the Rudman Fellows during “Lunch and Learn” events, engaging with a variety of professionals in the public service arena.
Class of 2020
Eric Monty and Milliana Zonarich
Eric Monty completed his undergraduate studies at Southern New Hampshire University, and served in the US Army as a Cryptologic Linguist with the National Security Agency for more than four years. Monty has experience serving underpriveleged communities at two of the largest nonprofits in New England in Project Bread and Pine Street Inn.
Zonarich graduated from Grinnell College in 2017, and interned at Iowa's Protection and Advocacy Office, Disability Rights Iowa (DRI), where she accompanied DRI advocates on facility investigations, monitoring visits, and Individualized Education Plan mediations. She also helped interview clients, wrote reports, and conducted legal research.
