Experiencing the nuances of local leadership and judicial impacts are an important part of student civic learning.
In the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Fellows Program, the Fellows engage in summer weekly seminars centered on civic engagement. While most of their sessions are at Stix House, two of the seminars took place off campus at the Delmar DivINe and the Eagleton Federal Courthouse in Downtown St. Louis.
During these visits, the Fellows heard from St. Louisans engaged in the wide-ranging civic world; they talked with elected officials, legal experts, and entrepreneurs. Many of the speakers emphasized the value of engaging in democracy and improving society at local levels, and Fellows engaged in follow up discussion in their seminars about how the visits connect to their own civic journeys.
On July 2, the Fellows visited Delmar DivINe, a collaborative space on Delmar Boulevard that provides office space, shared services and other resources for nonprofits, foundations and community support organizations.
Fellows heard from panelists Nancy Parker Tice, Alderwoman in the City of Brentwood and a Gephardt Institute National Advisory Council member; Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity; and Nebu Kolenchery, Chief Revenue Officer of Flourish & Thrive Labs. The panelists spoke about their civic journeys and career paths, emphasizing the value of getting involved with organizations and politics at the local levels.
Sarah Nash, Community Engagement Manager at Gephardt, pointed to a quote that Kolenchery shared: “It’s hard to feel useful and despair at the same time” as an important mentality for remaining involved in civic life.
“That stands out to me as a call to action to be engaged and to stay engaged, even when that engagement feels hard or pointless, or we’re achieving outcomes that are the opposite of what we want,” Nash said.
St. Louis Fellow Zach Trabitz ‘27 said he appreciated hearing from people with such a diverse array of experiences.
“They all brought very unique ways of engaging in democracy and civics,” he said. “It was reassuring to see that regardless of the career path that you choose, you can always tie it back to engaging with the world around you through civic engagement.”
The Fellows took their second seminar immersive experience on July 23 to the Eagleton Federal Courthouse. They first sat in on a sentencing hearing, and they later heard from a series of judges, lawyers, and staff at the courthouse about their work in the legal system.
They heard from Federal Judges Catherine Perry and Rodney Sippel. In addition, Chief Pretrial Services Officer Susan Hendrickson, Chief U.S. Probation Officer Kim Bramlett, and Tyler Morgan, a federal public defender, spoke with the Fellows.
Many of the speakers discussed the court’s programs that aim to limit recidivism rates and help people remain in their communities. Among the speakers, they heard from several leaders of the Sentencing Alternatives Improving Lives (SAIL) program, which works to reduce defendants’ sentences or dismiss their charges.
Fellow Elena Wierich ‘25 said it was impactful to hear the lawyers and judges talk about ways they are working to keep people out of prison and provide resources that can positively transform people’s lives.
“The fact that they are using their skills and law degrees for something that is, in my mind, very net-good, was pretty inspirational,” she said.
Wierich added that the visit made her more interested in engaging in the intersection between legal work and advocacy.
“It’s possible to be in criminal law and be doing very good things, and very holistic things, and be interested in justice in a way that I hadn’t seen before,” she said.
The Fellows also heard from Hieran Andeberhan, a Fox-Clark Civic Scholar with the Gephardt Institute, about her experience as an intern with the SAIL program. Andeberhan had first heard about the program during a visit to the Courthouse through the Civic Scholars Program.
She said that engaging with the work of the SAIL Program is rewarding because of its emphasis on helping clients overcome systemic barriers.
“It’s a lot of people who grew up in poverty, a lot of childhood abuse, childhood neglect, lack of education,” she said. “You can’t change your childhood, but [the SAIL program is] a way to process it and move forward.”
Andeberhan also hoped that the Courthouse visit exposed the Fellows to the diversity of Court employees.
“This Courthouse is so diverse, and I didn’t expect that, and that’s one of the things I really love,” she said. “I hope they know that they can do a lot of the careers they saw.”
Nash said her goal is that the visits and conversations reaffirm the diverse ways that people can engage with civic issues in traditional and less traditional ways.
“I think, sometimes, we have the tendency to limit ourselves to civic careers in public service or civic careers as a politician or a civic career as a lawyer, and many of our Fellows want to do that and should do that,” Nash said.
However, she said that a thriving democracy requires individuals in any given career to be civically minded. “We really do need folks who have a civic lens in whatever career paths that they take,” she said.