Elijah (Eli) Cohen is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a double major in Criminal Justice and Political Science with a minor in Law & History. His dedication to public service started in high school and was strengthened through his extracurricular involvement on campus and in the public sphere. A former transfer student and student-athlete from New Jersey City University (NJCU), where he was a member of the Honors College and baseball program, he leveraged those experiences to deepen his commitment to community-driven advocacy. Alongside the Lloyd C. Gardner Fellowship, Eli will serve as a fellow in the Rutgers Democracy Lab Think & Do Tank program, where he will work with peers to improve democratic engagement and address prominent local and global issues. In addition, he is an inducted member of the Rutgers University Pre-Law Society and, in keeping with his competitive nature, Eli currently serves as the secretary of the Rutgers University Ski and Snowboard Team.
Off campus, Eli has explored his interest in public service through his local and regional communities. In the spring semester of his sophomore year, Eli was a judicial intern for the Honorable John I. Gizzo at the Essex County Superior Court, where he drafted sentencing memoranda and prepared written recommendations on active motions pending before the court. During the following summer, he interned in the Bureau of Prosecutor Supervision within the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, where he conducted extensive legal research for litigation on the admissibility of breath-testing devices in the state and explored the intersection of law and politics by drafting policy briefs on proposed criminal justice legislation.
After finishing his undergraduate degree at Rutgers, Eli plans to attend law school to earn a Juris Doctor (J.D.), which he intends to use to become a public-interest attorney with a nonprofit, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In his free time, Eli enjoys a good book about French history, collecting Pokémon cards, and skiing in Vermont.