The ethical blunders of the past are teaching the ethical leaders of the future.
Kaytlin Roholt, a student at both the Law School and Perelman School of Medicine, was chosen last week for the Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics program . The Auschwitz fellowship is designed to provide an opportunity for graduate students to learn about the Holocaust in the context of Poland’s history and Jewish heritage.
The students will begin their trip in New York, then journey to Poland and Germany. The majority of the trip will be spent in Poland studying the legacy of the Holocaust there.
Roholt grew up roughly two hours north of Philadelphia in Tafton, Pa. She received her undergraduate degree in theology from the University of Scranton.
Roholt’s experience while studying the Holocaust as an undergraduate originally prompted her to apply for the Auschwitz fellowship.
“It struck me how much legal presence there was involved in the Holocaust — I wanted to further study the ethics of law,” Roholt said.
The program is highly selective and chose only 48 applicants out of a pool of 900 worldwide to participate in its four programs in law, journalism, medicine and religion. Despite being picked for such a highly selective program, Roholt is humbled by the opportunity.
“There were a lot of really qualified applicants, and they only picked 12 law students out of hundreds of applicants. When I got it I was shocked,” Roholt said.
She cannot wait to begin her studies. “I was so excited when I found out .. . I can’t wait to meet like-minded students and professors to discover and discuss new ways to apply ethics to law,” Roholt said.
When asked what she was going to do with her experience in the program, Roholt had a lot to say. “I am deeply interested in exploring the ethical frameworks to [learn] how we develop laws and applying this to modern legal and medical issues such as abortion and human rights,” she said.
Roholt plans to use her experience as a reminder of the importance of looking at legal issues through an ethical framework.
“It is important to actively maintain legal ethics,” she said.
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