Marshall-Brennan Fellow Application Form

The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project is a civic education program that sends law students to teach constitutional law to local under-served high school and culminates in a moot court competition featuring the participating high school students. The Project is named after Justices Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr., who emphasized the importance of constitutional rights, especially those rights that protect children under the Bill of Rights.

The rights Marshall-Brennan Fellows teach include, but are not limited to: (1) the right against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment; (2) the privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment; (3) the right to due process of law under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments; (4) the right to appointed counsel under the Sixth Amendment; (5) the right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment; and (6) the five freedoms under the First Amendment.

The University of New Mexico School of Law began hosting the Project in Spring 2012 and has mobilized law students to teach in high schools in every semester since then. The Project now seeks law students to serve as Fellows. Being a Fellow enables a law student to take ownership over constitutional law material, serve as ambassadors for the law school in area high schools, develop strong academic and mentoring relationships with local high school students, and demonstrates the law school's commitment to service in the community.

Law Fellows teach weekly in high schools and enroll in a weekly seminar at the law school that explores the material to teach high school students, discusses teaching strategies, and allows law students to share their experiences coaching the moot court competition.

Outreach Fellows conduct one-time presentations at high schools that generally focus on the constitutional rights implicated in a police encounter.

Here is a video that illustrates several of the constitutional rights that Fellows teach in their classrooms.

If you are interested in being a Fellow, please complete the following byMonday, March 18, 2024 at 5 p.m.:

  1. this form;
  2. a resume; and
  3. a 500-word personal statement that explains the reasons for being a Fellow, what you hope to gain, and whether you have interesting ideas for teaching high school students.