Ryan Vogel

Just 30 miles off the South coast of India, a brewing civil conflict haunts the fragile legislation of the small island country Sri Lanka. In an effort to support a crumbling regime, U.S. based and globally recognized Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), a pro-bono law firm nominated for the Nobel Prize for its peace efforts, sent a team to Sri Lanka to discuss negotiations with government contacts. UVSC alumnus Ryan Vogel ’04 from Orem, helped prep the team going in.

Vogel, a law student finishing his first year at the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C., was recently selected from more than 200 applicants as a junior research associate at PILPG.

The firm, which recently assisted the new Iraqi parliament with the drafting of a constitution, enlists volunteers from leading international law firms and graduate international affairs and law students at American University and Case Western Reserve Schools of Law to advise government officials in developing states and sub-states. Vogel feels the opportunity is a perfect fit for his career goals and says his UVSC experience gave him an advantage.

"My time at UVSC really helped me because I basically got to do everything I set out to accomplish in my undergraduate experience,” he said. “With that edge, I was able to hit the ground running.”

In his four years at UVSC, Vogel was student body president (May ‘02-May ’03); ombudsman in the office of student affairs; studied abroad in London, Paris and Rome; graduated valedictorian of the 2004 class; worked as an adjunct instructor in the Department of History and Political Science; and served as special assistant to UVSC President William A. Sederburg.

All his experience culminated in Washington D.C. last August when Vogel landed a position in the office of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) as the Legislative Correspondent for Foreign Affairs and Intelligence.  There Vogel writes correspondence drafts for the Senator to concerned constituents and meets regularly with senior staff to discuss foreign affairs and intelligence issues. Vogel will leave Sen. Hatch’s office this August to focus his efforts on PILPG.

“It has been an amazing experience. I’m one step closer to where I want to be,” Vogel said. “And I’m thankful for the opportunity.”

Vogel said he feels right at home in Washington D.C., and that is where he hopes to stay. His end goal is a career in the field of public international law and U.S. foreign policy. His dream job? U.S. Secretary of State.