By Selina Nadeau
One of the Center for Law, Justice and Culture’s talented students, Kaleb Carter, spent his summer doing advocacy work for ACLU Ohio in Columbus.
Kaleb Carter
Carter, a senior studying journalism, spent his summer commuting from Athens or from his hometown of Jamestown, OH, to the ACLU office in Columbus to work in a position that took some initiative to obtain.
He got the job by simply reaching out to the communications director of the ACLU, asking if they had anything available. The position he was offered was as a communication intern, a position that was unfortunately unpaid.
“I was not paid, but obviously it was still valuable experience,” Carter said.
The majority of the tasks he did, Carter said, were done so that other more experienced staff members would be freed up to do more important advocacy.
“I wrote a few press releases, but most of my work was writing content for the website,” he continued. “I curated some content for social media and kind of just learned the ins and outs of advocacy as a whole.”
And Taking Part in Civil Libertarian Efforts
Though a lot of the work he was doing kept him stuck behind a desk, Carter said being in the Columbus ACLU office allowed him to take part in some life-changing civil libertarian efforts that were also taking place in downtown Columbus.
“I was able be downtown when the marriage equality Supreme Court decision was handed down and saw one of the first same sex marriages was performed in the state of Ohio,” Carter said. ”I was able to celebrate with a lot of local pro-LGBT clergy and policy leaders, some people from Equality Ohio and some other advocacy groups.”
Probably the most valuable experience Carter gained from his work this summer was the chance to get to know people who have been involved in policy and advocacy for years and learn from them.
“I got to go to the Ohio statehouse and sit in on a hearing on fair housing, and I was sitting with Gary Daniels who is the chief legislative guy for the ACLU working at the statehouse,” Carter said.” Hearing him explain how committee meetings and other things at the state house work was really cool.”
As a staff member in the Center for Law, Justice & Culture, Carter works with fellow students and faculty, many of whom have an interest in social justice and civil liberties.
“I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in law or advocacy to work with the ACLU,” Carter said. “I have no doubt that I will be able to carry this experience into future opportunities down the line.”
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