For the last 45 years, the University of Delaware’s Jerome R. Lewis Legislative Fellows Program has provided college students with an opportunity of a lifetime: an immersive experience observing and contributing to the state’s legislative process. These students are tasked with working three days a week from January to June, where they conduct nonpartisan research for Delaware lawmakers and staff standing committees, carrying out the critical work that would otherwise fall to full-time professionals.

Since 1982, this partnership with the Delaware General Assembly has served as one of the University’s flagship programs and student opportunities that paves the way for careers in public service. This year is especially pivotal as the program has been renamed in honor of its founder, Jerome R. Lewis, a fitting tribute to the visionary who started it all. For over 50 years, Lewis was dedicated to elevating student success, developing programs such as the Legislative Fellows Program, which has helped to expand UD’s capacity for experiential learning across the state. His legacy lives on through the program's alumni and current Fellows.

The 2026 Legislative Fellows cohort comprises sixteen students, 10 of whom are currently pursuing coursework in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, and two who represent Delaware State University.

The Legislative Fellows Program is a paid fellowship that offers students a unique opportunity to witness the political decision-making process firsthand while utilizing their research and writing skills to support legislators in addressing public policy issues during the six-month legislative session. 

The Legislative Fellows serve with caucuses in the Senate and House of Representatives and the Division of Legislative Services:  

Senate Majority Caucus

• Lisa Carter – 4+1 Master of Public Administration (MPA) student specializing in public policy analysis

• Brontë Pepper-Hicks – Bachelor of Arts student double majoring in political science and sociology, Delaware State University

• Hailey Galbraith – ​Honors Bachelor of Arts student majoring in communication and minoring in political communication

Senate Minority Caucus

• Matthew Froden – Bachelor of Arts student double majoring in political science and economics and minoring in legal studies and philosophy

House Majority Caucus

• Emma Abrams – Bachelor of Science student majoring in environmental and resource economics and minoring in economics

• Nicole Berube – Master of Energy and Environmental Policy (MEEP) student specializing in sustainable development

• Sydney Johnston – 4+1 MPA and Bachelor of Arts student majoring in political science and minoring in political communication and statistical data analysis

• Trinity Kamami – Bachelor of Arts student majoring in political science and minoring in international studies, Delaware State University

• Colin Walsh – MPA student 

• Annie McTaggart – Honors Bachelor of Arts student double majoring in political science and history and minoring in European studies, public health, and Spanish

• Kylie Tugend – 4+1 Master of Public Policy (MPP) student 

• Simmone Wallace – 4+1 MPA student specializing in nonprofit management

House Minority Caucus

• Raymond Kalmanowitz – 4+1 MPA and Honors Bachelor of Arts student double majoring in public policy and economics

• Vivian Wiggins – Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science student majoring in public policy and health behavior science

Division of Legislative Services

• Sasha Altman – 4+1 MPP student

• Emily Simon – ​4+1 MPA student

Over the years, this successful partnership has consistently proven mutually beneficial, connecting UD’s talent capacity with the legislature’s research and staffing demands. The Jerome R. Lewis Legislative Fellows Program has notably expanded from just two students in 1982 to over 380 alumni working in all levels of local, state and federal government today. In fact, the current Mayor of the City of Wilmington and former Delaware Gov. John Carney earned his MPA at UD in 1984, where he served in the third cohort of Legislative Fellows, an experience he has described as “transformational” in helping to “understand the key role that public service plays in improving local communities.”

Students across cohorts have shared similar sentiments about the importance of the program, crediting it for strengthening their capacity and knowledge for the real world after college. Some of the key issues that fellows have worked on include criminal justice reform and feral cat management. Fellows have even studied peer-lending programs to aid small businesses, presented policy briefings comparing health care plans in Delaware with those in other states and nations, and researched topics that have eventually become law. 

“It's a key to a door that never would've opened otherwise,” said former 2018 and 2019 fellow Eric Hastings. “Once inside, the legislative process becomes familiar and far less intimidating, especially for a young person like me with no prior personal connection to politics. It's not an exaggeration to say the program is a life-changing experience.”