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Dayton Docket

Dayton Law Alumni Step Up To Help Out Students During Pandemic

For Marcus Vickers and his fellow classmates, spring was unlike anything they’ve dealt with before.

“It’s been a big change going from seeing my classmates and professors in person to have it all be online,” Vickers says.

Even as Covid-19 forced the suspension of in-person classes, it soon became clear that wasn’t all that was going to be impacted.

“I was waiting around to hear from a few different internships,” Vickers says. “Once the virus hit, I stopped hearing anything.”

And it wasn’t just Vickers.

“What became clear is that we had a number of students still seeking internships, but more than that we had a handful whose internships were rescinded because the employers could not provide them,” says Tim Swensen, Assistant Dean and Director of the UDSL Career Services Office. “Our office was contacted by a number of students who were concerned about their prospects.”

So Swensen decided to use social media to ask Dayton Law alumni if they could offer any internship possibilities. 

“I was hoping I’d find 10 or 15 in my wildest dreams,” Swensen says. “In a day, I had 25.”

That number has since grown to around 40 openings. The offers include varying areas of law and range from in-person to remote work and full-time to part-time.

“It’s been phenomenal what the alums have done and how willing they’ve been to step into that void and offer these opportunities,” Swensen says.

They include alumni like Matt Altick, who graduated in 2018.

“The reason I wanted to go to law school is I always liked problem solving and helping people,” Altick says.

Altick now works at the Clark Firm in Dallas.

“My internship was a great experience, so I wanted to pay it forward,” Altick says. “This was a good opportunity to help. We want those students to have the same advantages we had.”

Which is why Vickers will be working remotely with Altick’s firm over the summer.

“I’m really excited,” Vickers says. “I feel I’ll have a lot of back and forth with attorneys and get a firsthand experience of how they deal with things.”

Many more challenges related to Covid-19 are still ahead for Vickers and his classmates, but this is one they no longer need to worry about thanks to the support of Dayton Law alumni.

“It’s great I can work across the country and connect with alumni like that,” Vickers says.

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