Wayne Law student Shareece McCauley recently completed a Fellowship working with Defence for Children International in Ghana where she is pictured at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Photo courtesy of Shareece McCauley
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Wayne Law student Shareece McCauley recently spent two months working for Defence for Children International (DCI), an independent grassroots and human rights-based international non-governmental organization in Ghana that promotes and protects children’s rights.
The recipient of an International Public Interest Law Fellowship sponsored by the law school’s Program for International Legal Studies, McCauley focused on child violence, including human trafficking. She learned about the court system, juvenile justice and children’s rights in Ghana, edited reports, wrote a child violence proposal for UNICEF, and joined field visits to monitor trafficked children in safe houses and children granted funding for further vocational education.
“With a background in human trafficking in Asia, this experience has been informative and full-circled,” she says. “Most of my growth was very personal as well as professional. In eight weeks I’ve become a more independent worker, more sure of myself. I know the extent of my will and I know I refuse to give up.”
During her time in Ghana, she met many of the Justices at the new court in Accra; and at a networking party at the Russian ambassador’s home she met diplomats from around Africa including the German ambassador, prestigious traditional leaders, the head of the Nigerian Police, and others.
Highlights of her stay included two Ghanaian weddings, and a visit to Kakum National Park where a 1,150-foot canopy walkway connects seven treetops providing access to the rain forest.
She also visited Cape Coast, where most of the slaves in Africa were held before their journey on the Middle Passage.
“I was especially moved by the male dungeon where after many cleaning excavations you can still smell the blood of the men held captive,” she says. “I learned so much there separate from my standard U.S. education on slavery, and the Atlantic Ocean was a breathtaking location to meditate.”
A rising 2L, McCauley enjoys the possibilities offered by Wayne Law.
“School has a way of aligning with people looking to make a change – my kind of people,” she says. “Wayne Law holds a powerful position in Detroit as it stands as an institution in a city that begs to be rebuilt and what better way than with its brightest resources – the students.”
A member of the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Lawyers Guild, McCauley also is vice-president of the Black Law Student Association, a board member for the school’s Chapter of ACLU, and a second year Governor for the Student Board of Governors; and has accepted positions this fall with the Journal of Law and Society and the Free Legal Aid Clinic.
She currently is interning for Judge Arthur Tarnow at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District through the Judicial Externship Program advanced by the Wolverine Bar Association.
“Both BLSA and the WBA have been invaluable during my first year and have given me such guidance,” she says. “I’m so grateful for both these groups and everyone who has invested in me.”
With a strong interest in child advocacy, contracts, and property law, McCauley hopes to gain further experience at a firm or court in these areas. Her dream job would be to work with an entity regarding contract formation and/or arbitration internationally between governments and NGOs.
A cum laude graduate of Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Mass., McCauley’s interest in international law was sparked during an undergrad internship at Guggenheim Productions in New York City, where she transcribed for the movie “Redlight,” a documentary about human trafficking in Cambodia. The Redlight Children Campaign, a global human rights nonprofit organization, aims to end the demand for child slavery and exploitation. Questions that required extensive research – such as who would defend these children, and how could jurisdiction be assigned across the world – opened her eyes to a future career.
An Ypsilanti native, McCauley now makes her home in Westland with her husband Eric.
“As McCauleys, we work to build on the legacy of my husband’s aunt, Rosa Parks, and encourage at-risk populations to fight for the change they desire both in Washington and at home,” she says.
In June 2015, McCauley launched Common Ground Connections (CGC), a community based organization designed to connect students, recent graduates, activists and non-profits to services that can create a progressive change for Southeast Michigan communities.
“It’s almost two years old now and a website is expected to launch soon,” she says.
In their leisure time, McCauley and her husband enjoy dancing, watching movies, exploring new food spots – “and sleeping, whenever we get a chance,” she says. Other leisure pursuits include reading, traveling, and exploring Detroit, where she enjoys the food, the River Walk, the tall buildings, the waterfront, and the city’s proximity to Canada.
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