USC Dornsife launches the nation’s first undergraduate civil rights advocacy clinic > Information > USC Dornsife

Led by well-known civil rights attorney Olu Orange, the Agents of Change initiative enables students to get involved in key areas of social reform. [4¾ min read]

Through Agents of Change, the USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning provides civil rights advocacy for students regardless of financial or other difficulties. (Image source: iStock / VectorMine.)

Have you always wanted to work to improve civil rights and combat injustice and inequality but are not entirely sure how to go about it? USC Dornsife College for the Letters, Arts and Sciences has the answer. In the next semester, the “Agents of Change Civil Rights Advocacy” initiative will be launched, the country’s first experience-oriented civil rights clinic.

The initiative, led by veteran political science and international relations civil rights attorney Olu Orange, will enable students from across the university to work on the front lines of the latest civil rights effort.

Students will work with more than 30 community partners brought on board by Orange and Program Manager Kath Rogers, former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and a civil rights attorney herself, to participate in the USC Dornsife initiative. These include activists like Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the Youth Justice Coalition, legal organizations like the ACLU of Southern California, and government agencies like the LA Department of Civil and Human Rights and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

For students, the program represents a two-year commitment that gives them the opportunity to participate in three facets of social change: community activism, legal aid, and government policy.

“When you think about how improvements in civil rights can be achieved, these three areas are almost always involved,” says Orange, assistant professor of political science and director of the USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program. “We want the students to be very familiar with the changes in the civil rights arena in relation to all three.”

The USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning, which oversees the initiative, is committed to ensuring that citizens stand up for civil rights regardless of financial or other difficulties. Participating students will receive education, academic credits, and a $ 1,000 monthly scholarship to support their work throughout the program. The sum, says Orange, “is the exact number of students I’ve been told that anyone can eat, live anywhere, study, and do this program without having to work two or three jobs.”

Funding is a key component for students

Orange said it recognized the importance of providing financial support to the students participating in the initiative to ensure that all have equal access to it.

Civil rights attorney and instructor Olu Orange. (Photo: Courtesy Olu Orange.)

“My experience in the 20 years of running the Trial Advocacy program is that many black and brown students do not participate in activities, programs, and opportunities that require a lot of time beyond their classes because they do Setting aside time working to pay bills so they can go to school, ”he says.

“Funding is vital because it would be a terrible shame for black and brown students to be excluded from participating in a program that addresses problems in their community because they couldn’t afford to.”

Orange expressed its appreciation to several USC Dornsife administrators, “who all saw the need immediately and gave the initiative their full support without delay – even during the economic burden of the pandemic,” Orange said.

“This shows that USC Dornsife is a strong advocate for civil rights.”

How it works

After successfully applying for Agents of Change, students first spend one semester in the government or activism cohort and then switch for the second semester before moving to the lawyer cohort for two semesters.

“We arrange fieldwork for students at our partner organizations in connection with their current cohort,” explains Orange. “We’re also creating an educational module related to this work and inserting it into specific classes in this area.”

For example, a student working in the Civil and Human Rights Department in LA may take a course on American government taught in the Political Science and International Relations Department of USC Dornsife, which includes a specially designed module that focuses on relates to his field work.

In this way, Agents of Change will also build bridges between student education and the community.

“This bridge makes what the students learn in the classroom real to them,” says Orange. “It also serves to give them an advantage in their field work as they have an institutional perspective that they can apply to the reality of their work.”

A campus hub for community activism

Orange sees Agents of Change as a way to strengthen relationships between the university and the community. To this end, an area is currently under development on the USC University Park campus for students to collaborate with members and community organizations.

“The community needs to realize that they can come to USC with problems, problems, triumphs and victories and have a space to work with students and involve them in the work of community members,” says Orange.

He plans to expand the initiative to universities across the country so that students can do fieldwork in other locations and still receive the same academic credits.

“This program allows our students to develop their passion for helping others and show them how to turn that passion into a career,” says Orange. “You will also experience firsthand the benefits such a professional life has for the community and for yourself.

“With Agents of Change, students don’t feel like they have to wait to bring their passion, talents and skills to solving problems that affect their lives. You can do it now. “