The ice is on the ground and our classes have, yet again, been delayed. I spent my entire MLK holiday in the basement of McEwen, working on a project until it was dark. However time consuming, the beauty of winter term is that we can all be more focused (well, a lot of us).
This was true with my winter term article, as well. My story in The Pendulum this week will be on a new clinic that has opened through Elon University’s School of Law. The Humanitarian Immigration Clinic will be run by Elon’s law students, and will be serving refugees and those seeking political asylum in the United States. These are individuals who have been forced to leave their countries because of war and conflict, often being separated from their families and children.
The Humanitarian Immigration Clinic seeks to provide free legal services for these individuals and help them apply for and receive the benefits that the United States grants to them.
I spoke with Helen Grant, faculty advisor to the clinic, Philip Craft, the School of Law’s director of communications, and Heather Scavone, clinical practitioner-in-residence. While each of these individuals was able to talk about the clinic with me and share some of their information and insights about it, Scavone truly conveyed her passion and confidence in the work of the clinic.
Refugee and Asylum law is not a topic to which most people’s minds wander throughout the day, and few of us consider the situations these refugees face. Mothers are separated from their children, and individuals and families are here without the resources and abilities to apply for and understand their benefits themselves. These are the people that the School of Law is serving through its new clinic. Look for the article this week for more information on the clinic and how it will work.
-Natalie Allison, Senior News Reporter