UNM School of Law student selected as Peggy Browning Fellow
June 13, 2024
Rachel Swanteson-Franz, a rising 2L at the University of New Mexico School of Law, was named a 2024 Peggy Browning Fellow and will spend the summer working at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.
The Peggy Browning Fund helps law students gain experience with workplace justice advocacy by providing fellows with stipends for 10 weeks of employment with labor-related mentor organizations. Swanteson-Franz is one of 117 law students from around the country selected from a pool of nearly 4,000 applicants for this year’s program.
The Peggy Browning Fund provides the following statement regarding its fellowship: “Labor needs lawyers and we are inspired by the passion and dedication this year’s Fellows bring to the movement. These Fellows are distinguished students who have not only excelled in law school but who have also demonstrated their commitment to workers’ rights through their previous educational, organizing, work, volunteer, and personal experiences.”
Swanteson-Franz spent four years working in the environmental field, both in research and advocacy, before choosing to attend law school. Working in the environmental justice space and learning more about the labor movement led her to see deep connections between outwardly disparate issues. She cited the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, which killed 11 oil rig crew members and led to the largest marine oil spill in history, as an example of how better labor protections could have prevented this catastrophe.
Swanteson-Franz said: “If companies generally had to comply with much more rigorous worker safety standards, they couldn’t exploit the workers and thereby exploit the environment at the same time.”
In expanding her desire to apply for the fellowship, Swanteson-Franz also cited her interest in ensuring that labor rights are prioritized in the transition to renewable energy and that new jobs in the sector be well-paid, treat employees fairly, and have strong safety regulations.
Swanteson-Franz plans to pursue the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Certificate and will serve as the vice president of the Association of Public Interest Law at the School of Law next year.
