GIVING
IMPACTING THE WORLD THROUGH
INTERNSHIPS
There are many critical factors that separate Ave Maria School of Law from all other law schools such as: • Three required classes in morals and ethics • Being consistently named the nation’s most conservative law school • We support a full time chaplain on campus • The Holy sacrifice of the Mass available two times a day on campus • A Crucifix in every classroom • Classes that begin with a prayer • Our students’ consistent top placement in national Moot Court competitions • A faculty with practicing Catholics • A commitment to only invite speakers and honor individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to our mission and values And, in addition to these mission driven attributes, Ave Maria School of Law provides three very unique opportunities for its students to learn and make an impact in national and international settings. One opportunity is through a Legal Internship program in the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations. Next is a Legal Internship program for a Catholic Forum
of Non-Governmental Organizations in Rome. In addition, students have an opportunity to take a semester in Washington, D.C. with the Culture of Life Institute. Several of our students have stated that these internships available through Ave Maria School of Law constituted the top reason they chose our school. Although criticism of aspects of the United Nations may be fair, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations works to advance freedom of religion and respect for the sanctity of all human life-from conception to natural death and thus all aspects of authentic human development including marriage and family, the primary role of parents, and more. The Ave Maria Law Legal Internship program at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York provides our students with the opportunity to gain invaluable experience assisting the work of the Holy See in its important work at the UN, seeking to bring the light of Catholic Social Teaching to the debates of the international community. The D.C. Legal Internship with Culture of Life Institute (DCCLI) in the Nation’s Capitol, Washington D.C. allows students to gain invaluable experience assisting the work of the United States Congress (and, in the future, in federal departments, agencies, or commissions) on issues relating to bioethics.
Let’s hear directly from some of our student interns on how this internship experience has increased their understanding and helped prepare them to advocate on important national and global issues.
“I can’t overstate the importance of spending a semester at the United Nations with the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission. The UN was an immersion into the “big picture” intersection of law, politics, trade, and diplomacy. It gave me front-row access to watching how ideas — both good, and very very bad — are first proposed, then discussed, then disseminated out into the world. That semester was the essence of leadership training.
CHRISTOPHER JAY (2018)
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When you work as an intern for the Holy See, you are an intern as to the Holy See, but you are a full-fledged delegate as far as the UN is concerned. This means that you have full access to anything and anywhere (aside from high-security events), including the General Assembly and Security Council meetings. Many within the UN push dangerous ideas; and many fight back with good ideas. My semester in Manhattan with the Holy See, in conjunction with law school, was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.”
