Warm beach, sunshine, and… Detroit?
While the blizzard of 2026 is burying the East Coast today, I’m counting down the days until I head to Detroit for Alternative Spring Break — and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Detroit may not be on most people’s spring break shortlist, but I’m grateful to be spending mine volunteering with the Sugar Law Center, led by John Philo. The Center’s origin story alone is worth knowing: a husband and wife who devoted their lives to civil rights and legal services for those in need built an institution that continues their legacy long after they’ve passed. That kind of impact doesn’t fade — it compounds.
The work matters because access to justice is not evenly distributed. In the legal system, the quality of your representation can determine the outcome of your case. The Sugar Law Center works to close that gap, and that mission is one I’m proud to support — even if just for a week.
This opportunity is made possible through the Feinstein Center at Roger Williams University School of Law, where Suzanne Harrington-Steppen, Eliza Vorenberg, Laurie Barron, and Zureen Khairuddin coordinate Alternative Spring Break placements for law students across the country. The program bridges the classroom and the community in exactly the way legal education should. I’m honored to have been selected to participate.
This will also be my first extended time in Detroit — a city with a resilience and history I’m eager to experience firsthand.
If you’re in the area, I’d love to connect. See you in two weeks.
Further reading: Reflection: Alternative Spring Break with the Sugar Law Center. Legal terms used on this site are defined in the plain-language legal glossary.
