Some dreams are so big it’s easier to stash them away like linens in a hope chest.
“But when I hit 40, I got more daring,” says Gail Pough, 44, who works in zoning and housing code enforcement for the city of Aurora. “It wasn’t that I thought of myself as being old. It was, ‘Hey, 40!”‘
She had long yearned to get a college degree, but that turning point – and a new type of legal degree – finally inspired her to action. Being a single mom with two kids and a full-time job presented no obstacle.
“Social advocacy is more related to the type of person I am,” says Pough. “There’s a part of me that always wanted to stick up for people who don’t have a voice.”
Making a difference in the world is what most excites Pough about the law-and-society major, new this fall at The Women’s College of the University of Denver.
Unlike law school, which teaches tools to make arguments on behalf of clients, this liberal-arts undergraduate major focuses on serving the public good.
It examines how law both empowers and constrains individuals, groups, organizations and committees. Students with this degree find jobs in everything from social advocacy for nonprofit organizations to health care, dispute resolution and the criminal justice system.
“We got so many calls from people in the community, after they heard about this program, saying, ‘Wow, we need people with this kind of background. How can we be a resource?’ ” says Linda Cobb-Reiley, who directs the new department.
This is the only major of its kind in Colorado, she says, with California and Arizona being the only other states nearby that offer law-and-society degrees. Further, the University of Denver is one of only 20 majors among 60 law-and-society programs nationwide that offer interdisciplinary courses in the field.
Colorado is in the vanguard because over 40 years the University of Denver developed an international reputation in the law-and-society movement, and led the founding of the Law and Society Association in 1968.
This interdisciplinary approach to teaching and studying about law grew out of the legal realism tradition of 1920s, which was a reaction to the legal positivism that said law was something to be discovered.
“But look at civil rights law,” says Cobb-Reiley. “They didn’t go out and discover that. It came about from social movements that demanded it.”
Women have been at the forefront of social movements in America since the days of temperance and the abolition of slavery, so this new major seems a perfect fit for The Women’s College. It offers professionally oriented bachelor’s degree programs for women in a weekend class format.
Recently, when 150 women attended information sessions on the law-and-society major, they instantly made a connection. “They were all ages from all walks of life and diverse ethnicities, but they all had one thing in common,” says Reiley.
“This program really speaks to their desire to be advocates for change, to be empowered to make a difference, and to give back. They really got it. I didn’t have to spend much time explaining what law and society is. That’s the real surprise.”
Christy Morris, president of the Mile High chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association and an Elway’s steakhouse employee, is one of 36 women who immediately enrolled.
She’s particularly interested in working as an advocate for women’s rights, and for corporate responsibility in the hospitality industry.
“When you think about law, you have to think about how society dictates law,” says Morris, 51. “This degree will take me so much further than the little billable lawyer who has to sit in a sweatshop.”
Recently, Morris helped a fellow employee win back her parental-visitation rights. She went to the library, got books on family law, and then coached the woman in writing letters and filing motions. The day after the co-worker got her visitation rights reinstated at the court hearing, Morris learned about the new major.
“It was a no-brainer,” she says. “I’ve always been into people’s rights since fourth grade, when I was president of the school.”
Morris, who loves politics, believes in the importance of activism. “Not just in your community, but in your country and the world,” she says. “To do that, you have to have some kind of civic and legal knowledge so you know what people’s rights are.”
For many working mothers who have shelved their dreams, getting older can be a drag. But The Women’s College, they say, provides that jolt of juice.
“There’s a women’s camaraderie,” says Pough. “I feel empowered because I’m running into single moms who are trying to do the same thing, and that’s encouraging. Recently, I ran into a lady who ran for state representative.” She pauses. Some dreams are too big to discuss. She fears her secret sounds silly. “I have a little ambition,” she confides, “to do something in politics at some point.”
She and her new friend, the woman who ran for state representative, plan to have coffee soon, and explore the possibilities.
