Notre Dame Law student Garrett Hofmann selected for FASPE Ethics Fellowship
Notre Dame Law student Garrett Hofmann was selected as one of 14 fellows for the 2026 Law Program of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).
Now in its sixteenth year, FASPE annually grants 80-90 fellowships to graduate students and early-career professionals in the fields of Business, Clergy, Design & Technology, Journalism, Law, and Medicine. Fellows participate in a two-week program in Germany and Poland, which uses the conduct of professionals in Nazi-occupied Europe as an initial framework for approaching ethical responsibility in the professions today.
The FASPE curriculum conducts daily seminars and dialogue at sites of historic importance, often specific to each profession. The experience of the Law fellows is enhanced by traveling alongside the Business and Design & Technology fellows, who consider how ethical constructs and norms in their respective professions align and differ.
“We are living in a fraught moment when professionals face crucial ethical choices that in some instances are reminiscent of choices professionals faced in Nazi Germany. FASPE’s emphasis on examining why so many professionals made poor choices, how we might identify with their decision-making, and the horrific consequences of their choices helps to instill in professionals a rigorous and reflective approach that is valuable at any time, but particularly in a perilous moment like this one,” said Noah Bookbinder, FASPE’s CEO.
The 2026 Fellowship will take place in Germany and Poland over the course of two weeks this summer. The Law Program will be led by Corey Ellis, former senior leader and trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Jessica Roth, professor of law and co-director of the Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law at Cardozo School of Law.
Hofmann is a third-year student at Notre Dame Law School with a strong commitment to public service and an interest in national security law. As the child of an Air Force family, he brings a lifelong connection to military communities to his legal work. Hofmann has experience in veterans advocacy, administrative law, and international legal issues, including work in Israel on behalf of American victims of terrorism. He has led major academic initiatives supporting veterans and plans a career in government service at the intersection of law, ethics, and national security.
"The program offers a rare and distinctive opportunity to study professional ethics," said Hofmann. "I look forward to honing my ethical values and decision-making skills in an immersive and interdisciplinary environment."
According to FASPE, Hofmann was drawn to FASPE for its unflinching examination of how professionals confront ethical failure and responsibility in the most consequential real-world settings. He joined the program to more fully anchor his legal career in a deep sense of purpose, accountability, and service.
Hofmann joins a diverse group of 84 FASPE fellows across all six programs. The fellows were chosen through a competitive process that drew over 1,400 applicants from across the U.S. and the world. FASPE covers all program costs, including travel, food, and lodging.
The FASPE Ethics Fellowship allows the participants to join a community of nearly 1,000 alumni. Through an annual reunion conference, leadership development workshops, ethics symposia, trips to ethically significant historical sites, and alumni writing, FASPE maintains long-term relationships with its fellows. This continued work sustains the commitment to ethical behavior and provides a forum for further dialogue. Through FASPE’s Ethical Tensions Conversations, for example, alumni reflect upon and discuss the vital professional ethical issues of our own day in the spirit of open inquiry.
To learn more about FASPE and its programs, visit www.faspe-ethics.org.
About Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE)
FASPE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote ethical leadership and responsibility among professionals beginning with recognition of the influence that professionals have on all aspects of society. Its distinctive methodology examines the behavior and motivations of the professionals who enabled and enacted Nazi policies to establish the importance and urgency of self-awareness, professionalism, and ethical leadership today.