Yale Law School

July 1, 2010

Dear Andrew B. Greene, Jr.,

We write to you on behalf of the Lowenstein Human Rights Project, an extracurricular research organization at Yale Law School.  For more than twenty-five years, the Lowenstein Project has supported the work of human rights organizations and other public-interest groups by pairing them with interested Yale Law students.  Working in teams, these students assist their organizations with research or writing activities pertaining to a specific project.

Last year, about forty Yale students worked on eleven lawyer-directed projects for a range of organizations within the United States and abroad.  One group of students drafted a memo on State and Commerce Department regulations that might be used to fight the use of cell phone tracking technology in identifying dissidents in Iran.  Another student group conducted research on the legality of the EU?s deportation of certain immigrant groups, while a third contributed research in anticipation of a Supreme Court case on the legality of designating foreign non-governmental groups as linked to terrorism.  Generally,
most projects last three to four months and involve around 20-30 hours of work per individual student.

We construe the idea of human rights broadly.  In addition to traditional human rights themes, we seek projects that might include issues of: reproductive rights, education, the environment, governance and rule of law, sustainable development, disability rights, free media, and access to information and technology.

In the past, we have received consistently positive feedback from our partner organizations regarding the benefit of our students? dedicated volunteer work.  While we cannot guarantee a student will be assigned for every project proposal, we were able to meet almost all requests for assistance last year, and we anticipate comparable student interest this fall.

We are writing now to ask that you please advise us of your provisional interest in partnering with our organization.  We will then follow up with you in mid-to-late August with a formal solicitation for specific projects for the coming fall semester and/or academic year.

We look forward to being in touch and to matching you with a team of student researchers!  Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,


Aileen Nowlan & Megan Corrarino

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Greetings from Atlanta: City of Peace.