Arti Walker-Peddakotla, a 2022 Soros Justice Fellow, former elected local official and U.S. Army veteran, has been selected as the 2024 William H. Hastie Fellow.
The University of Wisconsin Law School’s Hastie Fellowship has provided aspiring scholars with an outstanding opportunity to prepare for a career in teaching law since 1973. It honors civil rights advocate William H. Hastie (1904-1976) and was established through the leadership of legendary UW Law School Professor Jim Jones (1924-2014).
The two-year fellowship reflects UW Law’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in legal education. Over the decades, the Hastie Fellowship has provided a launching pad for many outstanding law professors, law deans and other leaders in law in government, including members of historically underrepresented groups and scholars whose research focuses on race and law.
Fellows pursue a scholarly agenda of their choice, typically prepare two pieces for publication and receive mentoring in their teaching and scholarship.
As a Soros Justice Fellow at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she earned her J.D., Walker-Peddakotla worked on creating support for abolitionist movements at the local level. She co-created and co-taught the LAW156: Abolition and Movement Lawyering course. And she created Abolition 101, a 10-week community class inspired by community members’ need for a space to learn about, discuss and debate abolitionists text and theory.
Before that, Walker-Peddakotla served as an elected trustee in Oak Park Village, Illinois, and co-founded the community organizing group Freedom to Thrive Oak Park. She has a master’s degree in microbiology and immunology, worked in technology roles as a director of engineering and senior product manager, and served in the Army from 2000-06.
“I am excited for the opportunity the Hastie Fellowship provides and am looking forward to contributing to abolitionist legal scholarship,” Walker-Peddakotla said. “I see this as a continuation of my work in building a world where we all have the freedom to thrive.”
Alexandra Huneeus, who led the selection process as chair of the Hastie Fellowship Committee, expressed excitement that Walker-Peddakotla will bring new perspectives into the legal academy.
“Walker-Peddakotla’s wealth of experience has led her to ask astute questions about the criminal justice system,” Huneeus said. “Her first paper is an original critique of the way we gather data. She proposes turning things around, imagining a world in which we gather data about well-being and safety in our communities rather than arrests from police reports.”
The fellowship program also provides practice opportunities for interviewing in the law teaching market. Walker-Peddakotla will have the option of teaching a seminar in Spring 2026 or another future semester.
Submitted by Law School News on August 9, 2024
This article appears in the categories: Features
