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William S. Richardson School of Law

The Peace Corps has announced the launch of a new Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law. The program will provide graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers who complete a degree-related internship in an underserved American community while they pursue their studies.

“The Peace Corps is excited to extend this opportunity to returned volunteers in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi to support continued public service and education,” said Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. “The Coverdell Fellows Program gives returned volunteers the chance to build on their classroom experience by sharing their unique knowledge and skills with local organizations in need.”

Competitively selected Coverdell Fellows will have the opportunity to pursue a juris doctor degree. The new partnership is the first between the Peace Corps and a university campus in Hawaiʻi, and is one of only a small handful of Coverdell Fellows programs to offer a law degree.

“The William S. Richardson School of Law is well suited to host and educate Coverdell Fellows,” said Dean Avi Soifer, “We are an unusually small yet exceptionally diverse law school community with programs focusing on international law and the law of Asia and the Pacific as well as on American, indigenous and environmental law. In addition, we are fortunate to be able to maintain a friendly face-to-face culture in a beautiful place that truly still has considerable aloha spirit.”

Fellows selected for the program will receive $3,000 per academic year in financial aid.

Internships in underserved communities are an integral part of each fellow’s degree. By sharing their Peace Corps experiences and global perspectives with the communities they serve here in the United States, returned volunteers are supporting the Peace Corps’ Third Goal commitment to strengthen Americans’ understanding of the world and its people. Professional placements at non-profits and government organizations also help students further develop their skills. Fellows pursuing their juris doctor degree will have the choice of either completing a professional externship or undertaking pro bono work.

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