Obsessed with Democracy

"When I was in the clinic, there was debate about whether political violence in the U.S. was likely enough to warrant attention," she recalls. "Today, that question is no longer theoretical."

Dorman's work at Harvard parallels her role as legal counsel for Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending democratic institutions. Her path to this work began at Hobart and William Smith. As an international relations major, HWS Debate team member and Campus Greens organizer, she discovered the courage to lead and the confidence to keep at it. She says being recognized with the John K. Walker 1896, LL.D. 1950 Endowed Scholarship, which was awarded based on her leadership traits and in honor of her service to HWS, affirmed her instincts.

From serving in the Peace Corps in Rwanda during the 2016 election to her current role preparing the next generation of lawyers, Dorman remains committed to one goal: ensuring that democracy not only survives but thrives.

"I want to push my students to not only think about the legal aspects of issues we discuss, but also the broader persuasive narrative. How do we talk about really abstract concepts like 'democracy' and 'rule of law' in a way that actually matters to people with a million other things to think about and do?"

Between HWS and Harvard, Dorman served in the Peace Corps in Rwanda during the 2016 election — a posting that shaped her thinking on what democratic resilience looks like in practice, not just in theory. The lessons traveled with her into the law school clinic, into Protect Democracy, and now into the classroom where she teaches the next generation of lawyers to argue not only the legal case but the persuasive case alongside it.