Tennessee's first Equal Justice Works Fellow to work with area youth
 Dolores Whiters of Champaign, Ill., has joined the University of Tennessee College of Law as the College’s first Equal Justice Works Fellow. The 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law will work with area UT law students and faculty and area attorneys in developing a legal back-up center for children and youth.
The UT College of Law was able to hire Whiters after receiving a grant from Equal Justice Works to establish a Children’s Advocacy Network at the College. UT becomes the first southern law school to join the prestigious Law School Consortium Project, a national enterprise designed to bring into closer collaboration law schools and lawyers in small and solo practices and legal services, public interest, and pro bono practice.
“There is a great need for legal representation on behalf of school age children and youth at both the state and national levels,” said UT Law Dean Tom Galligan. “Having Dolores Whiters as our Equal Justice Fellow will allow us to help regular and special education students, particularly low-income students of color and students in rural areas, who suffer from lack of adequate representation.”
Whiters comes to Tennessee after serving as Education Law Attorney and Coordinator of Parent and Student Advocacy with the Champaign Urbana Area Project. In her role there she developed and managed an advocacy program for students and parents of students encountering challenges and disputes in the Champaign and Urbana schools. Whiters also provided free representation for students who experienced suspensions, expulsions, discrimination and/or seeking special education services.
Whiters earned a B.A. degree in mathematics from Roosevelt University in Chicago in 1976 and worked as a systems analyst and engineer prior to entering law school at the University of Illinois. While in law school she received the Rickert Award for Excellence in Public Service and CALI Awards for Excellence for the Future in Law, Science and Medicine and Legal Education.
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