The Beasley School of Law has created a fellowship program to enable new graduates to be paid to work for one year in select public interest organizations. 

The first three fellowship recipients from the Class of 2020 were recently announced: Joseph Gambela, working at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society PA; Kyle Offenbecher, at Youth Sentencing Reentry Project; and Joshua Dean, working at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. 

The pilot program was established by Temple Law Dean Gregory Mandel in response to the extraordinary challenges arising from the ongoing pandemic, which have particularly impacted the Class of 2020 and public interest agencies throughout the region. The fellowships have been generously funded by Temple University Trustee Leonard Barrack FOX ’65, LAW ’68, and his wife Lynne, EDU ’68; Stephen and Sandy Sheller of Temple’s Sheller Center for Social Justice; the Rubin Fund; and other donors. 

In an email to Temple Law’s Class of 2020, Dean Mandel wrote, “ … 2020 has made unmistakably clear the persistent and urgent need for socially responsible and civically engaged lawyers with the skills and resolve to tackle entrenched, systemic injustices and inequities. […] This program is borne out of our commitment to you and our responsibility as a leader in public interest and social justice legal education. It is also a reaffirmation of our belief in you, and in your readiness to serve our neighbors in the community as advocates, counselors, and leaders—to be Temple lawyers at a time when they are more needed than ever.”

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