Alumni Spotlight: Kristina Campbell ’02
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
As a young high school student, Kristina Campbell was sure she wanted to help people. What she did not know was how she would go about it. “I thought I wanted to be a social worker,” she says. However, it quickly became apparent to Campbell that she could use a law degree to do the most good for the people she wanted to help. Today, she is a staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in Los Angeles, advocating for Latino rights.
Campbell’s desire to help those who are less fortunate began at a Catholic high school in Concord, California, where she learned Catholic social teaching and participated in local community service projects. She went on to attend Saint Mary’s College (across the street from the University of Notre Dame). While there, she became involved with Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, taking part in the Migrant Experiences Seminar, a program in which a group of students spend their spring break in South Florida to live and work with migrant families. “The experience changed my life,” says Campbell.
After graduation, Campbell spent a year with Holy Cross Associates, working in a homeless shelter near Phoenix, Arizona. While working in the shelter, she met some Notre Dame alumni, one of whom encouraged her to investigate law school. “Knowing me, my strengths, and my interests, this alumna thought law school would be good for me.”
Campbell ultimately chose Notre Dame Law School because of its inherent focus on social justice. In Campbell’s second year at NDLS, she started working at the Legal Aid Clinic, concentrating on immigration. “I maxed out on my credits for immigration; I kept my cases and just kept doing them for no credit.”
Campbell says her experience at the clinic prepared her well for a career as an attorney. “I had a lot of client contact, a lot of time in court, and experience drafting pleadings and motions. The clinical professors were there and the training wheels were on, but it was clear that these were our cases, our clients. Faculty were there to supervise and guide us if we needed them.”
Today, Campbell uses her background and training to help Latino immigrants and workers have a better life. “I see my job at MALDEF to be the protection of all people, making sure that the constitution applies to everybody equally.”
For more information about Kristina, visit her Alumni Profile.
