By design, small liberal arts colleges foster the kind of relationships that prepare students for deep inquiry and real-world impact. As a 2018 graduate of Hendrix College–and now a second-year law student at New York Law School–Tejas Soman can testify.
During the Spring 2016 semester of his sophomore year, Tejas tried out a public policy class taught by Dr. Peter Gess and quickly realized that Dr. Gess liked to experiment with his teaching and learning methods. Earlier in the semester, he hinted that the students might be involved in a program called Debating for Democracy (D4D). However, he didn’t say much about what that would mean.
“And then a couple of weeks before, he said, ‘I’ve decided to give you guys this assignment,’” Tejas says. That assignment turned out to be Project Pericles’ “Letter to an Elected Official” Debating for Democracy Competition. In small teams, Tejas and his peers researched an issue and wrote a letter to an elected official. The aim was to start a conversation about a policy issue they cared about: an opportunity to take classroom learning out into the real world.
Tejas teamed up with three friends in the class to examine criminal justice reform challenges facing young people. Ultimately, they decided to send a letter to State Senator Joyce Elliott, advocating for media reporting restrictions relating to charged juveniles.
“We decided this topic seemed kind of niche,” Tejas says–and thus ripe for tackling. While Arkansas law prohibited local media outlets from publishing the names of juveniles tried in criminal court as minors, the law still permitted them to release the names of juveniles tried in criminal court as adults.
Under close supervision from Dr. Gess, they workshopped their letter. Dr. Gess helped them strengthen the language and ideas. That close support contributed to the letter’s efficacy: Tejas’s letter not only won Project Pericles’ 2016 competition but also helped catalyze a mentoring relationship.
Soon, Dr. Gess became one of Tejas’ favorite professors. Tejas took another class with Dr. Gess during his junior year, followed by a third that was focused on the intersection of psychology and politics.
“I had so many classes with him, and I understood how he liked questions answered,” Tejas says. He was also able to receive intentional feedback,whether it was about his coursework or something unrelated to academics. “It was nice being at such a small school.” When it came to choosing a thesis advisor during his senior year, the choice was natural: Dr. Gess.
Tejas attributes that close relationship – fostered in part by the Debating for Democracy experience – to shaping how he learns and spends his time. After working a few years in various public policy positions, from being a consultant in the environmental space to serving as a hazardous waste inspector for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, he opted to continue pursuing his civic interests by attending graduate school.
In law school, he still enjoys that Debating for Democracy-type mentorship he received as a younger student: “It’s important to get that experience one-on-one with a professor or mentor.” Today, he maintains that same civic curiosity characteristic of so many past D4D participants. “Understanding the law is not the end goal,” Tejas says. “You have to just keep learning it and learning it.”