Glasgow UM Student Wins Congressional Udall Internship

Lillian Alvernaz of Glasgow and 11 other American Indian and Alaska Native college, graduate, and law students will participate in the Udall Native American Congressional Internship this summer. The students will be placed in U.S. Senate, U.S. House and federal agency offices to learn firsthand how the U.S. government works with Native nations.

Alvernaz, a traditional Assiniboine/Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate from northeast Montana, is pursuing her master's degree in public administration, a certificate in American Indian law, as well as a Juris Doctor degree from the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at UM. She graduated with honors from UM in 2013 in Native American studies and social work and hopes to combat violence against Native women and children.

The Udall Foundation placed Alvernaz with the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, Tribal Division, for her summer internship.

"The internship provides wonderful opportunities to work and collaborate with people involved in her field at a national level, which will then help her serve her clients better and lead in the legal protection of Native women and children," said Laure Pengelly Drake, UM director of external scholarships and advising.