MaryGrace Longoria was in third grade at an international school in Uruguay when her class took a field trip. They headed to a village to paint the local school, essentially a one-room shack used by all grades.
Here were students learning in the most basic of environments. Her school, serving children of foreigners living abroad like herself, was relatively wealthy and modern. The disparity struck her.
“I came home later and said to my mom, this is not fair,” Longoria recalls. “She said, ‘I know, honey. That’s the reality of the world where people don’t have what we have, and that’s why we have to give back and help others.”
It’s a lesson that stuck with Longoria, 29. Now, as a third-year student at FIU College of Law, Longoria is the recipient of a Skadden Fellowship that will support her through two years of work helping the parents of Miami-Dade students after she graduates in the spring.
This is the first time an FIU Law student has received a fellowship from the Skadden Foundation. The fellowships, which began in 1988, seek to improve legal services for the poor. Typically the fellows are students of Ivy League law schools, and the fact that an FIU Law student was selected is an honor both for Longoria and the university overall, said Antony Page, dean of FIU Law.
“Skadden Fellowships are the leading public interest law fellowships in the country, so this is a great compliment to MaryGrace. She is a fantastic student here and had a wonderful proposal,” Page said. “It’s rare that they select fellows from schools that aren’t at the very top of the pecking order and that aren’t very expensive private schools. “This is terrific that they have recognized one of our student’s merits, and it’s great recognition for our school”
Longoria’s fellowship will support her work with parents of students with special needs in the Florida City and Homestead area. Longoria will work with those families to “make sure they have everything they need to be successful,” she said. Legal Services of Greater Miami will host Longoria through the two-year project, and she’ll partner with homeless shelters and human service providers to identify students who need her help. Mostly, she says her work will be in partnership with schools, but she’ll take further legal steps when necessary to make sure the students are getting the access they need.
Announced in November 2022, Longoria’s Skadden Fellowship represents the culmination of work she has been doing for years. After growing up in Uruguay, Chile, and Colorado Springs, Longoria received bachelor’s and master of education degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder. She spent a year teaching language arts at Jose Diego Middle School as part of the Teach for America program, and then went on to organize parents and teachers in Denver for four years. Most recently, Longoria led civic engagement work at Miami Dade College. She enrolled at FIU Law and knew she wanted to use her law degree for public service.
It became clear early on that Longoria was a remarkable student, said Rosario “Rosi” Lozada, Professor of Legal Skills & Values and Director of Well-Being in Law. “She’s a leader here at the law school,” Lozada said. “She came to law school to do this work.”
Lozada, who also received a Skadden Fellowship while in law school, says the work that Longoria will undertake with the fellowship is the type of work that embodies what it means to be a lawyer. “This is a value within the legal profession, to increase access to justice,” Lozada said. “The preamble to the model rules of professional conduct specifically states that attorneys should improve access to the legal system.”
More than 90 percent of Skadden Fellows remain in public service after their two-year fellowship. “They continue to give a voice to people who ordinarily wouldn’t have access to legal services,” Lozada said
The idea that Longoria could apply for a Skadden Fellowship began percolating shortly after starting law school, said Randee Breiter, director of FIU Law’s Abraham S. Ovadia Career Planning and Placement Office. “With fellowship candidates, if we can talk to them early, we can get them to start thinking about this,” Breiter said.One such example is FIU Law alumnae Brittany Brooks, who in 2020 received an Equal Justice Works Fellowship that allowed her to establish the Serving Our Sisters legal clinic in Broward County, which has already helped 24 female veterans get better access to legal services.
“It seems to me that these two fellowship recipients are part of a trend of our graduates really adding value in public service,” Page said. “The fact that our graduates are now performing in these social justice fellowships helps contribute to our mission to support the state.”
Working to make sure students with special needs have access to programs is the kind of work Longoria says her mom pushed her toward as a kid. “I grew up in a really privileged environment, but my mom is a Mexican immigrant from Juarez, and she made me sure I never forgot where I’m from,” Longoria said. “She made sure I spent time with my cousins who did not have it as good as we did. We traveled a lot abroad, and she always pointed out those who didn’t have what we had and the inequity of it.”
Now, with the Skadden Fellowship, Longoria says she’ll work to help fix some of those inequities.
Story by Eric Barton