Women, Leadership & Equality Program

Practice-Based Learning: The Rose Zetzer Fellowship Program

A lifelong advocate of women’s issues, Rose Zetzer’s pursuit to become a lawyer started in the eighth grade during a discussion of whether women should have the right to vote. After she graduated from Eastern High School, she attended Johns Hopkins University and the School of Law, earning her law degree in 1925. Ms. Zetzer began her efforts to gain admission to the Maryland State Bar Association in 1927, and in 1946 she gained admission as the first female member. Throughout her career, Ms. Zetzer was devoted to women’s rights, spending many hours in Annapolis working for the passage of the women’s jury service bill, rejecting the explanation that women could not fulfill their duties because the courthouses lacked women’s restrooms. In addition, she fought for the repeal of laws discriminating against women, lobbied Congress for the right of married women to work, and for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

A small group of third-year students who demonstrate a strong intellectual interest in and commitment to women’s issues are chosen as the WLE Program’s Rose Zetzer Fellows. Zetzer Fellows participate in a Workshop that provides training in professional skills, including communication, organizational dynamics, leadership, and personal negotiation. They may also do externships with organizations that work on women’s policy issues. Fellows assist faculty in the research component of the Program by providing research assistance and by actively participating in website management and annual conference planning.

Fellows may earn academic credit by working for governmental and nonprofit national or local organizations that focus on policy or legal issues affecting women. Students work under the supervision of lawyers in these organizations on policy initiatives or providing direct legal services to women. Fellows have worked at the following international, national, state and local organizations:

  • CASA of Maryland
  • The House of Ruth
  • International Association of Women Judges
  • Legal Momentum/National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund
  • National Women’s Law Center
  • Women’s Law Center of Maryland

Rose Zetzer Fellowship Application


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500 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-1786 PHONE: (410) 706-7214 FAX: (410) 706-4045 / TDD: (410) 706-7714

Copyright © 2013, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. All Rights Reserved