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Elizabeth Wollan graduated from BC with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Political Science, concentrating in International Studies and Hispanic Studies in 2019, and was was an intern during her senior year. She has since earned a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, where she focused on international conflict negotiation and resolution, global security, nuclear non-proliferation, multilateral institutions, diplomacy, and international human rights law.

The mentorship provided by the Center was a significant influence on Elizabeth, offering her opportunities to translate her academic background into practical, on the ground work. The Center afforded her the opportunity to do substantive research and allowed her to focus on topics she most cared about related to foreign policy. During her time at the Center, Elizabeth focused on the 鈥淜now Your Rights Toolkit鈥� regarding migration justice, which deepened her understanding of immigration law frameworks and operations. The Center unlocked a network of professionals who cared deeply about issues Elizabeth was passionate about, bridging her undergraduate and postgraduate life.

After graduating from BC, she worked at a law firm specializing in pro bono cases and Spanish translations for migration issues. Additionally, she worked with the United Nations focusing on migration and conflict. In these roles, she applied the foundational understanding of the intersections between academic concepts and real-life scenarios that she gained at the Center.

Currently, Elizabeth works at the U.S. Department of State as a Senior Advisor for Policy, Planning, and Public Diplomacy in the Secretary鈥檚 Office of Global Women鈥檚 Issues. She is involved with all gender-related matters passing through Congress, works with the public affairs team, and contributes to their in-house university. Elizabeth creates curricula and teaches courses to foreign officials, ensuring their work is grounded in human rights principles and sustainable practices. One of the courses she teaches is Intersectional Gender Analysis, where she emphasizes the importance of providing foreign assistance that is ethical, inclusive, and locally led.

Ivana Wijedasa graduated from BC in 2022 with a bachelor鈥檚 in International Studies with a concentration in ethics and social justice. She also graduated with minors in Hispanic Studies and Philosophy. At BC, she developed an interest in a career dedicated to social justice and human rights. Since graduating, she continued this interest by working with the International Rescue Committee鈥檚 education department enrolling refugee youth in schools, advocating for accommodations, and providing translation services to address language barriers. Wijedasa is currently pursuing her law degree at Boston University School of Law where she will be Vice President of the Immigration Law and Policy Society and will be part of the immigration clinic next year.听

When reflecting on her role as a CHRIJ intern, she recalls her desire to explore her interests in immigration and advocacy more deeply. She found the discussions with Assistant Director Tim Karcz and her fellow interns valuable in learning more about human rights issues and tying them to the Center鈥檚 work. Wijedasa also highlighted her experience working with Professor Raquel Mu帽iz reading amicus briefs regarding the DACA Supreme Court Case as important to gaining a glimpse into the legal field and research. In addition to her internship, Wijedasa cited the course Interdisciplinary Approaches to Borderlands and Human Mobility, taught by SSW Professor Alejandro Olayo M茅ndez, SJ, as revelatory. The course involved traveling to the US-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana to gain a better understanding of the intersectional issues migrants face. With the experience gained, she plans to continue her work in social justice and migration advocacy in the future.

Liam Maguire was an undergraduate intern for the Center for Human Rights and International Justice during the 2016-2017 academic year, a period of time which in many ways marks the beginning of unprecedented social and political polarization that we continue to experience in the United States today. His motivation for joining the Center came in part from a desire to engage more deeply with the challenges facing our nation and to understand how they would unfold on both the domestic and international scales. Shaped further by his semester abroad in France and the Jesuit value of serving others, Maguire was interested in deepening his understanding of immigrant integration and international development from a research perspective, all of which drew him to the Center鈥檚 work.

Maguire鈥檚 experience as an intern with the Center complemented the rest of his time at BC and served as a launchpad for his postgraduate journey. In alignment with the Jesuit value of service which he hoped to embody in his professional life upon graduation, Maguire joined the Peace Corps, serving a rural community in Namibia for over two years. His service focused on public health initiatives regarding HIV prevention and teen pregnancy, among others. He expresses that his decision to join the program was certainly informed by his experience as an intern with the Center. As he describes, not only did his work deepen his understanding of international development, it further contextualized what a career in the public sector would look like and connected him with alumni who were pursuing similar paths.

The relationships developed between undergraduate interns and visiting scholars was another formative aspect of Maguire鈥檚 time with the Center. He described how his capacity for academic rigor was honed through the process of working with the Center鈥檚 affiliated faculty members, and the strong personal connections built among students and faculty served as an edifying force as Maguire and his fellow interns embarked upon their respective journeys post-graduation.

After Maguire, who graduated in 2017 with a degree in International Studies and a concentration in Ethics and Social Justice, returned to the US from the Peace Corps, he then worked for the USAID鈥檚 Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, contributing to strategic planning efforts for their Office of Africa. Most recently, Maguire completed his Master鈥檚 degree in Public Policy at Princeton University and currently works as an analyst at the Climate Policy Initiative in Washington, DC.

For Lori Niehaus, class of 2018, the CHRIJ internship position involved her in interdisciplinary dialogue that continues to serve her in her current employment at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. Niehaus graduated from BC with a double major in Biology and International Studies, and also completed the McGillycuddy-Logue Fellows (MLF) Program for Undergraduate Global Studies, through which she was able to connect with Center co-director Brinton Lykes, then an MLF program faculty member.听 Niehaus has always had an interest in public health, particularly within the context of the experience of migrancy. After serving at a local health center during a semester abroad in Quito, Ecuador, Niehaus joined the Center as an undergraduate intern, motivated by a desire to dive further into the intersection of health and injustice on a global scale.

Niehaus鈥檚 experience at the Center informed both her personal and academic journey after graduation. Working with then visiting International Studies professor, Laurie Johnston, on a project examining experiences of Muslim students on Catholic campuses across the US, Niehaus developed a deep interest in interfaith dialogue and the intersection of religion and access to services. She built off this interest, to write her senior thesis on the ways in which Islamophobia affects Muslim immigrants鈥� access to healthcare in the US. This experience in part motivated her decision to serve in the majority Muslim country of Malaysia as an English Teaching Assistant under a Fulbright Grant following her graduation. Niehaus鈥檚 time at the Center additionally helped her to discern which fields of study she wished to pursue within the intersection of global health and injustice.

Following her year teaching English, Niehaus co-founded the nonprofit organization, Feed the Frontline. Based in Chicago soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Feed the Frontline provided meals to essential workers while simultaneously supporting local restaurants that were facing unprecedented economic challenges. Shortly thereafter, Niehaus completed her Master鈥檚 of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in the Global Disease Epidemiology and Control Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During her MSPH program, Niehaus was awarded a PAVE fellowship to work in the Immunization Section at the United Nations Children鈥檚 Fund (UNICEF) global headquarters in New York City. Currently, she is a Health Scientist at the CDC in the Global Health Center's Global Immunization Division, where she works with partners and country governments primarily in low- and middle-income countries to improve access to and utilization of life-saving vaccines.

Mary Noal graduated from BC in 2020 with a bachelor鈥檚 in International Studies with a concentration in political science and a minor in Latin American Studies. While at BC, she studied abroad in Argentina for a semester and also took the course 鈥淪ocial Justice in Israel and Palestine鈥� which included a travel component to that region during a winter break. After graduation, she began working at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she has since taken on various roles. She worked on litigation cases as a paralegal, which included pro bono immigration cases with the opportunity to translate for Spanish-speaking clients. Currently, she is working in a new department as a Business Development Coordinator.

When reflecting on the impact of the CHRIJ internship, Mary recalls her interest in practicing her Spanish skills and migration. She was introduced to the Center by the professors involved such as Professor Dan Kanstroom and Professor M. Brinton Lykes, whom she met in class or through the McGillycuddy-Logue Fellows Program. The CHRIJ internship gave her a greater understanding of what human rights work can look like. When discussing how to demonstrate solidarity and international support, she believes 鈥渂eing an advocate starts at home,鈥� beginning her advocacy efforts on campus when she was at BC and with the Center, and now going forward. She enjoyed planning and incorporating interdisciplinary immigration events on campus through her role. She also enjoyed practicing her Spanish skills when working with Professor Lykes and the Mart铆n-Bar贸 Initiative for Wellbeing and Human Rights at Grassroots International. With the experience gained from the internship and her career journey, she hopes to find how to best incorporate a human rights focus in her day-to-day life, whether at work or through volunteering.

Tugce Tumer studied International Studies and Hispanic Studies, graduating from BC in 2021. During the summer of 2024, she was an intern at Clifford Chance, a law firm in New York. Prior to this, she worked as an Immigration Paralegal at Goldstein Immigration Lawyers, where she collaborated with clients and attorneys to prepare immigrant cases.

In addition to her professional work, Tumer is currently pursuing her law degree at Duke University Law School. She serves as a Pro Bono Coordinator for the Duke Immigrant Refugee Project, where she assists asylum clients with their applications and leads a group of student volunteers.

Reflecting on her time at the Center, Tumer notes that learning about social justice in the classroom was vastly different from working on related projects. Her internship at the Center was pivotal, shaping her career path. She collaborated with Professor Raquel Mu帽iz and other interns, on the 2020 US SCOTUS decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy. The Center introduced her to immigration law and inspired her to pursue this field, 鈥渋t offered me many skills I continue to use today, such as research, teamwork, and critical thinking," Tumer shares. Working with the Mart铆n-Bar贸 Initiative for Wellbeing and Human Rights (MBI), which was co-founded by Center co-director Brinton Lykes, was eye-opening, exposing her to grassroots work and helping with fundraising projects.

Tumer expressed that the experiences at the Center and the MBI have been instrumental in her journey, equipping her with the tools and inspiration to advocate for social justice and immigrant rights.

Grace Cavanagh graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in International Studies and a minor in Hispanic Studies. Following her graduation, Cavanagh received a Fulbright Scholar Award to serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Galicia, Spain, where she stayed for a total of two years. She currently works at PLUS Communications in the Washington DC-Baltimore area as an Associate.

Cavanagh鈥檚 time with the Center reinforced her international interests and helped develop her leadership skills, both of which informed her decision to accept the Fulbright Scholar Award following her graduation. Despite being given various assignments, Cavanagh described how the Center faculty consistently encouraged the interns to take initiative and introduce their own ideas into the team鈥檚 work. This led Cavanagh to develop and organize a letter-writing campaign within the BC community to immigrants being held in detention, a process which increased her confidence in her own capacity as a leader. This ability to take initiative on her own projects was a skill she frequently used in teaching English in Spain.

Additionally, Cavanagh described how the internship program at the Center served as a useful step in between college and the professional world. Her work assisting Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Raquel Mu帽iz in a qualitative analysis of the amicus briefs from the 2020 Supreme Court case Dept. of Homeland Security v. Regents of Univ. of California provided valuable experience that assisted in her transition into the working world after graduation. She finds the writing and communication skills gained from her time at the Center to be essential to the responsibilities of her current position at PLUS Communications.

Emma Kane graduated from BC in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Sociology and Political Science. Throughout college, she developed a passion for immigration advocacy which she decided to pursue post-graduation. During the year following graduation, she worked at Project Citizenship as a part of the Americorps New American Integration Program. Afterward, she continued her immigration advocacy by working at a small immigration firm assisting newly arrived immigrants. Emma is currently pursuing her law degree at Boston College Law School in hopes of creating a larger impact for the communities she will serve.

When reflecting on the impact of her role as a CHRIJ intern, Emma recalls her ongoing interest in human rights and immigration. The internship provided her with valuable tangible experience in those fields. She highlighted her research experience with Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Raquel Mu帽iz, an affiliated faculty member of the CHRIJ, on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case and the narratives surrounding it as great exposure to issues of immigrants鈥� human rights. The research experience was also the most impactful part of the internship leaving her with interesting insights into the portrayal of DACA. The research project resulted in the publishing of the academic article 鈥淭he Story of DACA as Told by Friends of the Court: The Role of Interest Convergence, Color-Evasiveness, and Exceptionality in Policy Discourse,鈥� for which she is a co-author. With the experience gained from the internship, she plans on continuing her passion for working for human rights.

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Antonio Mata graduated from BC in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Studies and a minor in Management and Leadership. The summer following graduation, he continued work with the CHRIJ and conducted qualitative coding of articles from The International Journal of Transitional Justice on a project focused on identifying how issues of race have been addressed by the journal over the years, contributing to an analysis in the journal鈥檚 2024 Special Issue on Race, Racism and Transitional Justice. Mata is currently pursuing his law degree at the George Washington University Law School, while also working at the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinic at GWU Law School as an immigration clinic intern.

When reflecting on his experience as a CHRIJ intern, Antonio credits the internship for instilling a drive to serve as a leader and seek justice through the legal profession. The internship introduced him to the complexities of human rights dilemmas and provided an understanding of the importance of legal advocacy in issues raised in the assigned material. He also honed transferable skills from the internship to his experience as a law student such as attention to detail, comfortability in engaging texts, and analytical skills. One of his most impactful experiences in the internship was working on a research manuscript in collaboration with CHRIJ affiliated faculty member and听 Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Raquel Mu帽iz, and Penn State College of Education Professor Maria Lewis. The project involved reviewing and qualitative coding of amicus briefs relating to the Trump administration's efforts to rescind the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides work permits and certain protections from deportation for some people who were brought to the US illegally while they were children. With the experience gained, he continues his work learning the immigration field as he pursues his journey to becoming a legal advocate.

Catherine Brewer graduated from BC in 2024 with a double major in International Studies and German and a minor in History. During her time at BC, she was interested in public policy and immigration advocacy. Her initial involvement with the CHRIJ was through her research titled 鈥淧olitical and Public Sentiments Towards Immigration Crises Within Germany鈥� funded by the center鈥檚 Rennebohm Fellowship. Since graduating from BC, she has been awarded and will pursue the 2024-2025 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant in Germany.

When reflecting on the impact of the CHRIJ internship, Catherine found the various speakers, researchers, and professors involved with the Center inspiring while demonstrating the different paths in justice-minded work. She found this network to be expansive allowing her to tap into diverse realms of research. In addition, she enjoyed the freedom and trust given to her when creating events, such as the first Undocuweek at BC. Overall, she found the first-hand experience in community organizing during the internship showed her what type of work she wanted to do and was crucial in finding her footing in justice-related work. In the future, she hopes to pursue a master's degree in public policy and is interested in research as a tool for advocacy, community organizing and think tanks.