Will you help build the next generation of national security law leaders?

Happy Holidays!  As we approach the end of the year, many of us give to organizations and causes that are meaningful to us.  This year, please consider sponsoring a student to attend the 2024 National Security Law Conference as a Center on Law, Ethics and National Security (LENS) Scholar.

Your gift of $850 subsidizes the attendance and participation of one LENS Scholar–but any amount helps!

By giving, you’ll be investing in the lives of young people pursuing interests and possibly careers in national security – and you’ll be investing in our nation’s future.   

The young adults who will benefit from your support will have the opportunity to hear from proven national security leaders at the conference and network with their contemporaries who share their interest in defending the rule of law.

Many will go on to work in government, the military, the private sector, non-profits, and elsewhere. They will be the future strategizers, communicators and defenders of national security interests here at home and across the globe.

Don’t we need more young people like this?

A key part of Duke’s Center on Law, Ethics & National Security’s (LENS) mission is to help build the next generation of national and – really – international security leaders. In 2018, we debuted the“LENS Scholar Program”in connection with our annual National Security Law Conference to support those future leaders in the field. (This year’s LENS conference is set for February 23-24.)

In 2020, 25 schools (46 selected students) were represented. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, the LENS Scholar Program returned in 2023, with 50+ selected students participating from around the country.

LENS Scholars 2023

For these promising future military and civilian lawyers, government and non-profit leaders, and policy advisors, the experience of attending the LENS Conference can be transformational.  

But don’t take my word for it. Read below to hear from past LENS Scholars about their experience:

Former LENS Scholar and now Army judge advocate CPT Chuck Deibel told me:

“Attending the LENS Conference as a student Scholar was an incredibly valuable experience. Not only did I learn a lot about national security and international law, but I was able to network with leading academics and practitioners in the field. A terrific Conference and a great opportunity for law students!”

Former LENS Scholar and now Duke Law graduate Gabby Levikow described her experience this way:

“Being a LENS Scholar as a prospective law student was an invaluable experience that allowed me to get advice from current law students with similar interests in the national security field, which has served me well while in law school. And as a current 3L, I would value the opportunity to once again engage with peers from other law schools who will also be embarking on national security careers in the coming years and can serve as potential resources in the future.”

Would you please consider a gift of $850 to sponsor a LENS Scholar’s participation in the 2024 LENS Conference? With this one gift, you could change a young person’s future.  

A gift of a full scholarship(s) would be fantastic, but–again–any amount helps! 

The easiest way to donate is online through Duke’s secure giving website: https://www.gifts.duke.edu/law?designation=3991358.

You can also mail a check to the Duke Law Alumni & Development Office, 210 Science Drive, Box 90389, Durham, NC 27701. Please write LENS Scholar on the memo line. If you would like to learn about additional ways you can make an impact on our students and support the LENS Center, please contact Halley House at halley.house@law.duke.edu.

Please help more students be able to experience this conference by being selected for the LENS Scholar program!   It’s a gift that will keep giving as they use their knowledge and talents to impact our nation and their communities for good.

All the best for the Holidays and the New Year!