I am happy to write letters of recommendation for current and former students. Asking professors for letters of recommendation for study abroad programs, internships, jobs, scholarships, or graduate programs is a normal thing, and it is okay to ask me.

When choosing which professors to ask to write letters for you, it is always best to choose people who: know you best from having had you in several different courses, are professors in your academic major, and had you in classes that you did well in.

As a general courtesy, please try to reach out to me about a month before the letter is due, to let me know a request is coming. Two weeks is the polite minimum.

In order for me to write the letter, here are the things I will need from you AT LEAST 10 calendar days before the letter is due:

• Everything you will be sending with your application, including your resume and cover letter. It is okay if these things are still in draft form, but they should be close to done.

• The best paper you wrote in college, whether or not it was in my class.

• A separate, written explanation from you (one short paragraph is fine) explaining what you hope to get out of this opportunity specifically. This can just be in the text of an email.

• Detailed instructions about where I am supposed to send or submit the letter.

• A timeline of when the application is due and when you intend to have your application submitted.

Some places will have an organized web site where you, the applicant, will submit information about me. In that case, please fill out this part of the form as completely as you can; you can use the information on the front page of this website, for example, to fill in my address, etc. Please use my Marymount email address.

I will typically only write a letter if the letter is “confidential” - that is, if you, the applicant, waive your rights to see it. Note that this works to your advantage, since no one will take a letter seriously if you do not waive your right to see it. If you, and the recipient of the letter, agree and understand that it is not confidential, that’s fine, but please clarify that with me in advance.

I am happy to meet with you to talk through any of these requirements, and in any case I encourage you to talk with me (or any other professors) to talk through your application strategy.

Finally, I am happy to write a letter for you to work or study at any place that engages in research, governance, or public outreach or advocacy, as long as it does so within the confines of healthy democratic action, regardless of my personal partisan, political, or policy beliefs. That is to say, you do not need to guess whether or not I, personally, “support” their, or your, causes. However, there is a limit - I will generally decline to write a letter or recommendation for you to work or study with hate groups (see, e.g., designations by the Southern Poverty Law Center), groups that advocate violence as a path to political change in the United States, or state-run propaganda or disinformation outlet (such as Russia Today).