Terrence Way '18 J.D. named Bank of America Foundation Fellow

Terrence Way, a member of Notre Dame Law School’s Class of 2018, has been named the third Bank of America Foundation Fellow of 2018.

Due to extra funding being available, the Bank of America Foundation was able to award one extra fellowship to a member of the Class of 2018. (The foundation typically awards fellowships to two graduating students every year.)

This year, the fellowship will cover the cost of salary and benefits for Way to work for one year at a city agency or nonprofit organization of his choice and for two other fellows to work for two years at a city agency or nonprofit of their choice. The fellows’ work must advance community sustainability, and fellows must provide legal services to low-income or other underrepresented populations.

Through the Bank of America Foundation Fellowship, fellows create their dream jobs. They select the organizations where they want to work and design the projects they will complete at those organizations.

Way will be a Bank of America Foundation Fellow at Chicago Public Schools, where he will establish a new program that connects students with local unions and possible apprenticeships. He will also work in the Labor and Employee Discipline Unit, dealing with dismissal hearings of city employees.

Way said the fellowship is enabling him to do the type of community building and public interest work that inspired him to pursue a legal career.

“I have always been passionate about public schools systems, and the education that is provided by them,” Way said. “As a product of the Detroit public schools system, I know how central a public school education can be to the life of a young student.”

He added, "I have always felt as though the major social problems cities face could be eliminated with a stronger school system and alternative post-secondary education programs. Many others concerned with the same set of issues agree. Some of these problems are synonymous with the ones in the city of Chicago, and, through the Bank of America Foundation Fellowship, I’ll be able to address them head on, working with Chicago Public Schools, constructing a new program connecting CPS graduates with trade unions and training programs."

Way earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Central Michigan University. While at Notre Dame, he pursued many opportunities to build public interest and litigation skills, including working for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, community organizing on the west side of Detroit, and serving as a member of Notre Dame’s mock trial team. Way was also incredibly entrepreneurial throughout law school. He started a nonprofit, Supply Squad, working with Notre Dame’s IDEA Center and successfully recruiting and partnering with entities such as Detroit Public Schools Community District, South Bend Community School Corporation, Under Armour, and Yats Cajun Cuisine.

“Notre Dame Law School has been an amazing place to learn about the law, and the profession, over the last three years,” Way said. “The Notre Dame community at large has been a hub for me to grow as a person and prepare myself for the next phase of my career. I am extremely humbled by, and grateful for, this opportunity to go forward in this amazing work, and show what a different kind of lawyer can do.”

Way is in the fourth class of Bank of America Foundation Fellows. The fellowship launched at Notre Dame Law School in 2015, and fellows have completed projects in Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Current fellows are completing their fellowships in Detroit and Chicago. Two other Bank of America Foundation Fellows from the Class of 2018 are completing their projects in San Francisco and Albany, New York.