College students gain fair housing law experience through internship program

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As published by MSN

The John Marshall Law School’s Fair Housing Legal Support Center has been educating college and university students this past semester about fair housing and fair lending law under a grant entitled, Fair Housing/Fair Lending IS for All Generations,from The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is the sixth semester that the course has been offered at John Marshall.

The grant provides scholarships to students to take the course that may be counted toward the student’s undergraduate degree. The Center is taking a proactive role in preparing and developing the next generation of advocates to fight the rampant discrimination that continues to exist in housing, and to educate and enhance knowledge of the Fair Housing Act to all generations.

The 19 students selected were recruited from the following colleges and universities: Concordia University Chicago, River Forest; Dominican University, River Forest; Elmhurst College, Elmhurst;  Northeastern University, Chicago; North Park University, Chicago;  Robert Morris University, Chicago;  Roosevelt University, Chicago; Triton College, River Grove; and the University of Illinois, Chicago.

In addition to the course, the students were required to make a presentation on fair housing and fair lending law enforcement at their college or university or in the community. The purpose of these presentations was to educate other students, professors, and persons from the community about their right to fair housing. It also affords the students an opportunity to speak in public and to explain what they have learned in the class to others.

At the end of the course, the Fair Housing Legal Support Center hosted a career night for the students and alumni of the previous courses to explore job and career opportunities in civil rights and in fair housing. Previous career events included panelists from the U.S. Department of HUD Region V FHEO Office, Illinois Department of Human Rights, Access Living, Chicago Commission on Human Relations, HOPE Fair Housing Center, John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic, The University of Illinois at Chicago-Department of Urban Planning and Development, and the law firm of Gartner & Bondavalli. The Center also assists interested students in obtaining internships with organizations that promote fair housing.

To learn more about the Fair Housing & Fair Lending Course, please call Professor Michael Seng at 312- 987-1446 or visit www.jmls.edu/fairhousing

*”The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.”*

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