Alumni
Giving
Carrying Forward A Spirit of Service
Each summer, a cohort of USF law students follows their passion for justice into public defenders' offices, legal aid organizations, and government agencies that cannot afford to bring on paid interns. That opportunity exists in part thanks to the generosity of Tom Hinkle BS '61 and his late wife, Genevieve.
"I am grateful for my Jesuit education and the values of justice, service, and critical thinking ingrained in me at USF," Hinkle says.
Those values carried him through six years of military service and into a career as an attorney, during which he served as a working board member and president of his local trial lawyer and bar associations, and later as an active board member and president of his local Boys & Girls Club and its affiliated foundation. Genevieve's public service took a different form. She cofounded and served for decades as docent for a court tour program, introducing thousands of middle and high school students to local courtrooms and giving many of them their first direct encounter with California's criminal and civil justice systems.
That shared commitment to public service led the Hinkles to establish the Thomas and Genevieve Hinkle Endowed Internship for the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) at USF Law. The endowment supports law students taking on unpaid summer work in the public sector, funding the kind of experience that's financially out of reach for the many students who need paid summer work.
USF Law students receiving PILF grants work in a wide range of public interest settings: district attorneys' and public defenders' offices, legal aid organizations, civil rights and immigration nonprofits, and government agencies handling everything from housing to environmental policy.
"Many students choose USF Law because of our deep commitment to social justice," says Johanna Kalb, Dean of the School of Law. "The Hinkles' support allows even more law students to spend their summers developing their lawyering skills, while also providing much-needed legal assistance to non-profit organizations and public sector agencies that lack the funds to pay summer interns. Their generosity will inspire and launch future generations of public interest lawyers."
My hope is that the interns will carry forward the spirit of service," Hinkle says, "and have opportunities to help others who are in need."
Consider supporting the Public Interest Law Foundation and play a vital role in nurturing and training the next generation of excellent, skilled USF lawyers.
