Ebie has pursued his interest from Constitutional Law in his first term to The Law of Democracy in his last. "With each year, with each course I've taken, I've been pushed to question my assumptions," says Ebie.
Ebie points to Legislative and Popular Constitutionalism, as one course that changed his thinking about the Constitution, by taking a theoretical look at the subject. "We asked questions like, 'What exactly is the Constitution? Is it a historical document? Is it an idea? Is it a symbol of our collective history, our values?'" Ebie was particularly drawn to the issue of who should have authority to interpret the meaning of the Constitution. "Is it solely the courts, as many law students in recent history have been trained to believe?" Ebie asks. "Or should it also be the people? Normatively, is our constitutional democracy better served by a process that gives the people greater authority to articulate our nation's fundamental values?"
But he finds more than an abstract interest in the subject. "It's the most engaging subject matter that I have encountered in law school, in part for the implications it has for understanding how our democracy is working right now," he says.
Ebie used his major papers as opportunities "to explore ideas and phenomena that take place outside of the law but that do affect legal institutions." In one he looked at the use of ethnic rhetoric in political discourse in two west African nations, Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire. The other examined how best to deliver support to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and whether targeted social programs might be appropriate. "While millions of peoples' lives were affected, it was clear that there was a disparate effect on certain poor, predominantly minority communities," says Ebie.
During his summers, Ebie did work that complemented his studies. By working at law firms, he saw the law in action. But he also spent part of each summer working in politics or government and saw the Constitution in action through the democratic process. For instance, in his first summer, he volunteered for Barack Obama's senate campaign, doing voter outreach work on the South Side of Chicago. Says Ebie, "Speaking with people, knocking on doors, I was able to get a much better picture of why many people, unfortunately, don't feel that they have much of a voice in our government."
Noting that he didn't take any clinics in his time at the Law School, Ebie says. "When I came to the law school I wanted to have a classroom-oriented experience. I wanted to steep myself as much as I could in the bigger questions, and to engage with my professors."
After graduation, Ebie planned to practice corporate law with the Wall Street firm Cleary Gottlieb, at which point he figures he will make up for that missing clinic. "I'm going to have a lot of practical experience when I get into the real world."