5/07/02—Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that Erin Han has been selected as the 2002-2003 Champy Fellowship award winner. The Lois and James Champy Fellowship Fund provides an $11,000 scholarship for the third year of law school to a financially needy student who has demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a public interest career.

"Ms. Han was selected for this award from a pool of very qualified applicants," said BC Law Dean John H. Garvey. "She exemplifies the ideals set forth by James and Lois Champy for their fellowship, and we hope that this award will assist her as she continues to follow those ideals."

Erin Han was a team leader, interviewer, and advocate for The Boston Medical Center’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Project, where she provided primary counseling, legal advice and referral service to victims of domestic violence, and interviewed patients in the emergency room for a Northeastern Law School domestic violence study. She also worked at Dorchester District Court as a civil restraining order advocate. In the summer of 2001, Han interned at Hale & Dorr Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. In addition, Han has served as a volunteer at the Big Brothers Organization.

After law school, Han says she plans to devote her legal career to the field of civil domestic violence advocacy. "My experience [in the Dorchester District Court] allowed me to gain a better understanding of the legal protections that are in place for battered women and men in our court system," Han writes in her application essay. "And my work [in the Boston Medical Center’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Project] has increased my understanding of the array of difficulties that face domestic violence victims, and may actually keep them in abusive relationships."

In the summer of 1997, Han attended New College in Oxford, England, where she participated in the Lord Rothermere Scholar study abroad program. In May 2000, she graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and Italian and European Studies. She was the founder of the body/eating disorder support group and she participated in Model United Nations.

This summer, Han will be working in the domestic violence unit of the Norfolk Attorney’s Office.

The Champy Fellowship Program
Thanks to the generous contribution of Lois and James Champy (BC Law ‘68) the Champy Fellowship Program provides financial support to an outstanding second-year student who has demonstrated the intention and ability to work in the public interest and who is in need of financial assistance. Any second-year student pursuing a public interest career is eligible, though preference is given to students providing direct legal services to the disadvantaged and/or working in civil or human rights. The Champy Fellow receives a $11,000 scholarship in two disbursements during the third year of law school, which is to be used to pay educational expenses.