Upcoming ALP Silent Auction

Greetings ALP volunteers!

We just want to remind you of a few important things that are coming up! The Annual Silent Auction, which is our biggest fundraiser, is next week, November 16, 17, and 18th and we need your help to make it happen. As you have heard by now, each trip participant must donate 2 items for the auction and get them to us THIS Thursday and Friday! We will be tabling in the subplaza Thursday and Friday to collect your items.

If you are not sure what to do, go to the COURSE MATERIALS link on the ALP Twen page and open the fundraising materials folder to find a list of ideas of what to donate. Most importantly there is also a formal letter to give businesses, along with a form to have them fill out with their donation. Also on Twen, in the sign-up link, there is a list of businesses that have donated in the past, so you can simply sign-up to go ask them for a donation. This is just to prevent the same businesses from being asked to donate by 20 different people. You are also not limited to things listed. If you think of something else that people might bid on that is okay too. Dinner or lunch with law school professors have been big ticket items in the past, so go talk to your professors!

Finally, Wednesday the 18th, from 5-7pm is the Silent Auction Wine and Cheese event which all donors are invited.

Recap: Your 2 items for the silent auction must be turned in to us THIS Thursday or Friday!

If you have any questions or could help us set up please email Ashley Geisendorfer geise090@umn.edu or Jin Hwang hwan0089@umn.edu

Thanks so much for all your help,

Your ALP Board

Support Golden Gopher Football and the Asylum Law Project

The Asylum Law Project will be holding a silent auction from November 16^th- 18^th in order to raise funds in support of student trips across the country.  Each year, ALP places law students with community organizations that are working to provide assistance to individuals seeking political asylum.  In anticipation of the upcoming silent auction, ALP will be auctioning off two tickets to the Minnesota vs. South Dakota football game, happening this Saturday, November 14th. The tickets are located in row 13, section 110 and come with a parking ticket for a lot next to the stadium.

Bidding is blind and will be open from Monday, November 9^th to Thursday, November 12^th at 12:00 A.M. To place a bid for these tickets, please send an email with your name, email address and the price you are willing to pay to alpfootballtickets@gmail.com. The tickets will go to the highest bidder once bidding has closed.  Please do not submit more than one bid.  Email alpfootballtickets@gmail.com with questions.

Speed Dating / Networking Event – November 5th, 2009

SPEED DATING/NETWORKING EVENT! ALP is hosting a fundraising Speed Dating and Networking Event at Stella’s Fish Cafe next Thursday, November 5th. Doors open at 7:30. Registration will be $9 in advance and $11 at the door. We will be tabling Monday through Thursday in the sub-plaza during lunch to pre-register folks. The money made at the event will directly subsidize your trip so please come and encourage your friends to attend as well. Free appetizers!

This is an open event, so we are inviting folks from the U’s grad/professional schools (i.e. law, business, geography, and medical & dental). Our hope is to promote inter-departmental mingling as well as provide for a good time between mid-terms and finals.

You pay less if you pre-register, so send us an email at asylumlawspeed@gmail.com to do so.  Click the following link for more info: Speed Dating-Networking (Nov5).

Alumni Reception Today!

Remember to attend the ALP end of the year Alumni Reception TODAY (April 16th) at 7pm in Auerbach Commons.

We will be celebrating the accomplishments of ALP over the years and honoring our previous members. Plenty of food and refreshments will be provided, and everyone (including non-members) are welcome to attend.

Hope to see you soon!

ALP alumni reception

Dear ALP Alumni and Friends:

The Asylum Law Project of 2008-09 cordially invites you to attend our 2009 ALP Alumni Reception on Thursday, April 16th at 7pm in Auerbach Commons of the University of Minnesota Law School (see attached poster).

To kick off the Law School’s Alumni Weekend, ALP would like to look back to those people who have been instrumental in this project from its inception in the early 1990’s up to today, nearly two decades later. Our goal is to honor our ALP alumni, reconnect with them as ALP continues to grow and develop, and say Thank You to our members and our supporters.

This year, ALP has expanded to nearly 100 members, supported a total of 12 week-long trips in six U.S. locations, and inaugurated a new Public Interest Clerkship grant to support one ALP member’s summer internship. None of this would be possible without the dedication of ALP alumni and the continued support of those alumni and other supporters of our project in the Law School, the University, and the community.

The Reception is open to the public and we welcome anyone and everyone who is interested in asylum and immigration work at the University of Minnesota and throughout the region. Please forward this email and poster to any former ALP members you know as well as anyone interested in public interest work and programs like this.

We hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,
Asylum Law Project

El Paso del Mundo

El Paso is closer to Los Angeles than Houston, closer to three other state capitals than its own, 12 hours from Brownsville, Texas.  It is part New Mexico, part Tejano, part Mexico, part Wild West, all frontera.  With a population of 700,000 and separated from a 1.5 million city by a tiny rivulet called the Rio Grande, El Paso melds with Juarez in culture, language, music, food, and la gente.

El Paso pictures

Remember, if you have any pictures from your trip please email them or post them to the facebook group.

Click on each picture to enlarge.

UMN ALP in the News

The University of Minnesota Asylum Law Project was featured on a recent MNDaily.com article:

As immigration issues continue to frequent court rooms, political speeches and circles of public debate, about 70 first-year law students helped illegal immigrants work their way through the legal process during their winter break.

The law students, who were all members of the Asylum Law Project spent about a week scattered across the country volunteering with nonprofit legal aid organizations that specialize in assisting illegal immigrants.

A note from Jordan

Hi everyone!

I hope that everyone had a restful holiday and is adjusting well to the new semester. I have heard some great stories from members who went on their trip this month, and I had a great time myself in El Paso.

On a somewhat related note, I want to remind everyone about the Human Rights Center’s meeting Thursday at lunch in room 35 about their fellowship to fund a summer of human rights work, nationally or internationally. For all those students that are interested in a summer internship doing the type of work that ALP does, the HRC’s fellowship program may be able to provide funding. They will give more information about the type of work you can do and the specifics of applying for the grant at the meeting tomorrow.

One more thing for those students that went on a trip this month and took a camera along: I hope that we can get some good photos to put on our website and to provide to our Communications and Alumni departments in the Law School as well as the Minnesota Daily, which will run a story on our organization on Friday (check it out!). If you would like to send a few good photos, please send them to me or your trip VP.

Thanks for all your hard work this month, and I hope the Spring Break trip members are looking forward to some good work and a lot of good times!

Thanks,
Jordan

ALP Auction Photos!