A brat summer of church-state separation

I do know a good quantity about church-state separation after working at Individuals United for Separation of Church and State for almost 37 years. However as a borderline Child Boomer-Gen Xer, even one who has Millennial and Gen Z youngsters and likes to assume he’s retaining tabs on popular culture, I acknowledge there could also be a factor or two I can be taught from younger individuals about learn how to greatest interact different younger individuals in our mission. As an example, I hear we’re within the midst of a “brat summer time,” however I’m not 100% clear on what that’s. 

AU’s summer time interns course of our points by means of a Gen Z lens

That’s why I respect the interns who be part of Individuals United each summer time. It’s been refreshing to seek out out what our eight summer time interns find out about church-state separation, hear them course of our points by means of a Gen Z lens and see what they uncover throughout their time at AU. 

As editor of AU’s “Wall of Separation” weblog, I’ve loved studying their takes on the problems – together with Improvement Intern Lilly Arthur’s name for unity within the battle towards Christian Nationalism and Communications Intern Leland Murphy’s report on non-public college vouchers. Leland and fellow Communications Intern Chloe Serrano even have been creating content material for our social media platforms all summer time – you possibly can see examples of their work right here and right here. And a 3rd Communications Intern, Carl Omondi, has been serving to with our web site – our new webpage educating people about Venture 2025 was his design.

Interns’ behind-the-scenes work very important to AU’s mission

A variety of our interns’ work occurs behind the scenes however continues to be very important to AU’s mission. Intern Mariamme Latif Estafan’s initiatives for the Outreach and Engagement Division included researching potential companions for AU and the Summit for Non secular Freedom (SRF) and conducting intergenerational interviews to construct better understanding and collaboration between older and youthful advocates.

The Authorized Division benefited tremendously from the efforts of interns Jillian Snyman, Siena Hohne and Chloe Rutledge. They helped draft authorized briefs, assisted in preparations for oral argument in one in every of our circumstances and wrote memos evaluating potential circumstances wherein AU may need to file friend-of the-court briefs, to call only a few initiatives. And Lilly helped the Improvement Division with basis and main donor analysis initiatives.

Way forward for church-state separation depends upon younger individuals

Interacting with these vivid college students reinforces for me some extent that President and CEO Rachel Laser has pressured repeatedly – the way forward for church-state separation, public training and our democracy depends upon younger individuals. That’s why Individuals United devotes a lot time, sources and a spotlight to initiatives like our internships, our Authorized Academy, our Youth Organizing Fellowship and our expanded Pupil Contest (which is now accepting submissions).

We’re dedicated to serving to Gen Z, Gen Alpha and the generations that observe become champions for church-state separation who will lead AU and our motion into the long run.