Alana Hake, BLF 2006
Alana graduated Washington University with her JD in 2008 and was on the Washington University Law Review. She completed her Blackstone field internship with Americans United for Life. Alana clerked for Judge Sidney Fitzwater at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. She has been offered a position with Lewis and Roca LLP in Arizona.
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship renewed my conviction that working for cultural change is not polishing brass on a sinking ship. Victories in the area of pro-life, religious liberty and family values not only have the potential to preserve individuals’ lives and enable them to hear of salvation, but also to glorify God as society is reordered bit by bit according to His design. Remembering that there are others who share my worldview gives me as much courage to raise my voice as knowing reasoned arguments for truth. Blackstone was a wonderful summer, a time of wonderful memories and deep learning.
Will Gerber, BLF 2006
Since graduating from Boston College with his JD in 2008, Will has been working for Craig and Macauley in Massachusetts. He attended Blackstone in 2006, serving Lawyers' Christian Fellowship in the United Kingdom. While a law student, Will wrote for the International and Comparative Law Review.
Participation in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship has given me new strength and a fresh sense of purpose for my return to the secular law school environment. One of the primary sources of this new resolve is the community of intelligent Christian legal minds – attorneys, teachers and students – to which I have been introduced. By consulting this community I will be able to sharpen my arguments and present a more coherent and polished case for Christian values to my fellow law students. Having these effective arguments at my fingertips both emboldens me to enter the fray when my values are threatened and makes me more confident that I will earn the respect of my opponents when I do state my case.
Alexa Hahn, BLF 2006
A University of Virginia law graduate, Alexa became a Blackstone intern in 2006. Her Phase II internship with Gammon and Grange helped prepare her for her current work with Kaye Scholer, LLP in Washington, D.C.
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship gave me the intellectual arsenal to battle the standard academia argument. The concept of natural law is singly the most important understanding I received from the internship.
Anthony Sham, BLF 2007
A 2008 Baylor University graduate, Tony is a commissioned officer in the US Navy JAG Corps. He interned at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy during his Blackstone summer in 2007. While in law school, Tony was involved in Moot Court.
I grew up in a culture that compartmentalized a Christian worldview and a Christian lifestyle; living a Christian life did not require actively engaging or reclaiming culture. This view was flipped upside-down after only 9 weeks of association with ADF. I personally feel better-equipped to reclaim our fallen culture in all circumstances (legal or otherwise) that may arise.
Evan Baehr, BLF 2007
Evan became a Blackstone intern in 2007 while attending Yale Law School. He served at the Beckett Fund during his Phase II internship before deciding to transfer from Yale to Harvard to pursue a graduate degree in business. While at Yale, Evan was the Director of the Yale Forum on Faith and Politics. Evan is currently a first year student at Harvard Business School, where he is working on a technology startup.
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship, through its lectures, discussions, and reading materials, revealed to me a cohesiveness and integration of the Christian worldview—philosophy, theology, and political theory—that I had previously not understood. It lucidly presented the coherence of apologetics, theology, exegesis, history, legal philosophy, and political advocacy. These subject areas are not best imagined as a stone with many facets, but rather as a rug woven of many colors of thread: its integrated whole would not be complete without the contribution of each independent strand. While I had previously understood each unique strand, Blackstone wove them together.
Anna Franzonello, BLF 2007
In 2009 Anna graduates from the University of Notre Dame where she served as the President of the Federalist Society. She interned with Family Research Council during her 2007 Blackstone Summer. Anna desires to use her law degree to work in the Pro-life cause.
The first two weeks in Phoenix were intense. The lectures were invigorating and I often found myself saying, “I wish I had heard this before I took Con Law!” The topics were diverse, yet all connected. Phase 1 unveiled the scale of the attack against truth, and through awesome presenters, also gave the battle plan and weapons necessary to fight back. Yet, it was more than just the information that was presented that has prepared me. The people that I met, the relationships that I formed, are ones that I could not have just reading the books, or attending any lecture. Living, eating, studying with the other fellows for two weeks, I formed friendships that are vital for the years to come. Not only do I know I’m not alone, but I really know the people who are on my team.
James Pavisian, BLF 2007
In 2007 James fulfilled his Phase II internship at Christian Solidarity Worldwide in the United Kingdom. In 2009 he graduates from Washburn University where he was a staff memeber of the Washburn Law Journal, and had his note, “The Case for Human Ingenuity: How Adderall Has Sullied the Game,” published in 2009. He also filled the roles of Treasurer and Secretary of the Christian Legal Society.
Before participating in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, I was sitting on the fence on a lot of important issues such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” As a Christian I believed that both abortion and same-sex “marriage” were wrong, but as a future lawyer I was not equipped to justify my belief through case law, history, and sound public policy arguments.
Neil Friedrich, BLF 2008
Neil participated in Blackstone in 2008, serving his Phase II internship at CORE (Comment on Reproductive Ethics) with Countess Quintavalle in the United Kingdom. As a student at Wake Forest University, Neil was an editor on Law Review, and served on the Leadership Board of Christian Legal Society. He will graduate in 2010.
Living in America, coming from an agnostic household, growing up in a mainline denomination – it is easy to become desensitized by recent cultural changes. For a long time, I believed that these changes were inevitable. While I would never alter my beliefs to better reflect cultural norms, I wasn’t too interested in changing the norms either. The Blackstone Legal Fellowship reminded me that God created man to live according to His law, current cultural norms fail to reflect that law, and living contrary to God’s law is bondage.
This summer, I had the opportunity to see a nation and a people who have pulled even farther away from God’s law then the United States. My time in Europe offered a sobering glimpse of what the United States could become in ten years if we don’t act now. At the beginning of the summer, I might have accepted that some cultural change was inevitable but not all that bad – by August, I realized that small changes over time become great.
Blackstone reminded me that God’s purposes are not achieved when Christians sit idly by and watch culture change around them. A reverence for God’s law demands nothing less than our whole-hearted efforts to engage the culture and champion the necessity of a Christian worldview.
Aaron Baker, BLF 2008
During his internship with Blackstone in 2008, Aaron had the opportunity to work with Indiana Family Institute. As a student he has served as Vice President of Federalist Society, President of Christian Legal Society, a member of Law Review and an intern for Congressman Mike Pence on Capitol Hill. Aaron will graduate from Ohio Northern University in 2010. He has a passion for legal educational philosophy.
Having been a Blackstone Legal Fellowship intern, I am better equipped to deftly dodge dangerous ideas that are not Christ-centered with humility and wisdom. I am grateful to have seen the demonstration of a thought-process that connects dangerous ideas to disastrous consequences. There has been an awakening of cognitive processes within me that is similar to a liberal education: the freedom of coming fully alive. The result of this is becoming more attuned with events around me and their implications, knowing how to better deal with those whom I disagree, while having the hope that comes with knowing that Christ’s Truth will never fail or be defeated. It is these attitudes and practices that I will use in recovering the Rule of Law in America.
Carman Leone, BLF 2008
Carman was welcomed as a Blackstone intern in 2008, filling his internship role in Rome. Carman has actively participated in academic life at Villanova University where he will graduate from in 2010. In addition to serving as President of the Christian Legal Society, Carman has written for the Journal of Social Catholic Thought, and participated on the Moot Court Board.
My participation this summer has lit a fire within my heart to take back the legal and moral ground in the judiciary that has been lost in recent years. Lawyers and supporters of all Christian denominations must unite, just as the Blackstone Legal Fellowship Class of 2008 has united this past summer, by overlooking denominational differences and focusing on the orthodoxy of our Christendom in order to win back the rule of law.
Calvin Liang, BLF 2008
Calvin graduates with his law degree from the London School of Economics in 2009. During his time at law school, he established a Lawyer’s Christian Fellowship on his campus. In 2008, Calvin interned with the Alliance Defense Fund in Arizona as a part of his Blackstone Fellowship experience. Calvin looks forward to continuing his legal education at Oxford University.
My participation in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship has inspired me to fearlessly declare the Christian Worldview in the public square. Where previously I had considered the retreat of Christian values as inevitable, I have developed a greater realization that the Truth is indivisible and must impact ever area of our lives.
