UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. — After seeing the job posting for director of Penn State Dickinson Law’s Miller Center for Public Interest Law and Advocacy, Barrett Marshall thought, “Someone wrote this listing just for me.”
The Miller Center is the hub of public interest law at the Law School, offering students a place to “do good” while earning their J.D. The job listing requested experience within the areas Marshall built their career on, including litigation, public interest law, and pro bono service.
“So much good work has been done through the Miller Center, and there is so much potential to do even more,” said Marshall, whose new position is director of the center and staff attorney. “I have stepped into a very exciting moment. I am eager to live up to that.”
Marshall takes the reins from Professor Emeritus Gary S. Gildin, the founding director of the Miller Center, who retired last spring after leading the Center since its 1999 inception. While Marshall is new to Penn State Dickinson Law, they are not new to Penn State. They previously served as an Equal Employment Opportunity specialist with the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, investigating allegations of workplace discrimination and offering compliance support.
Additionally, Marshall has served in clinical and adjunct professor roles, teaching graduate courses in law, ethics, health administration, and leadership. They see the Miller Center role bridging their interests in mentoring students and performing work on behalf of those living at the intersections of marginalized identities and below the poverty line.
“So many of us want to see growth in the world and nurture others. I believe the Miller Center can serve as an entry for law students into that good work,” Marshall said.
One of their immediate goals for the Miller Center is to ensure all students see it as a place for them.
“This is not just for students who want to become a full-time public interest attorney, though I am here to support those students,” Marshall said. “The Miller Center is for all students, regardless of their eventual career path, to understand how they can contribute to public interest work.”
Marshall hopes to create programming that resonates with both groups: students already interested in public service law and those who know very little about pro bono service.
“I hope students can discover something from our programming that they didn’t know existed in the practice of law, something they can participate in,” they said.
Marshall, who earned their Bachelor of Arts from Penn State and J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law, sees working with students as a critical part of community organizing.
“Even when I worked in offices that did not have student interns, I brought them in on my own,” said Marshall. “Students have always been an asset in my career, and this is my opportunity to invest even more in them.”
Marshall and their partner reside in Bellefonte in a house built in 1860. In their spare time, they enjoy learning about local history and doing outdoor activities such as gardening and kayaking.