Chace Pulley was accepted to Columbia Law School as a Leadership Experience Admission Deferral (LEAD) fellow. Fellows explore different opportunities for two years in the public, private, or nonprofit sector before matriculating at law school.
For her first gap year, Pulley will work as a Weil Legal Innovator (WLI) fellow. WLI places students in their gap years before law school at a nonprofit to conduct a specific project for a year.
“Haverford has fundamentally shaped what I want to do with my life,” said Pulley. “Through the combination of taking classes both in the political science and peace, justice, and human rights departments, I realized I wanted to leverage my strengths as a researcher, reader, and writer to work towards the public good.”
The political science major with a peace, justice, and human rights concentrator was placed at Tahirih Justice Center, an organization that advocates for and provides legal service to immigrant women and children. She will be designing toolkits to inform immigrant survivors of violence of their legal options.
Tahirih was a great fit for Pulley, who also focused on immigration at Haverford. She wrote her thesis on immigration policy, worked with Professor Anita Isaacs’ Migration Encounters project, and took five courses that explored the issue.
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, I am incredibly interested in pursuing immigration law and, more specifically, working in direct legal services,” she said. “My hope is my time at Tahirih, and, of course, attending Columbia will help me become a strong attorney who can stand up for my client’s interest.”
Pulley is happy to share her experiences and advice with anyone interested in law school or the WLI fellowship. For her second gap year, she is looking to work abroad.
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series chronicling the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.