Tyler Dorsey, a 2022 Chapel Hill High School graduate, earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman College in May, capping four years fueled by a commitment to social justice and a clear-eyed view of law as a tool for public service.

The Phi Beta Kappa inductee and Dean’s List student at Spelman recently joined Kostelanetz LLP in New York as a pre-law paralegal, a step toward law school and a career in advocacy.

"I remain grounded in my belief that being an attorney is a role of service," Dorsey said.

That philosophy took shape early. During a 2023 pre-law fellowship at Duke School of Law, a mentor posed a question she continues to carry: “What would’ve happened if Thurgood Marshall was just chasing money?” The question still guides her, she said.

Dorsey put that belief into practice through internships with U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams’ district office, the City of Atlanta Department of Law and the Atlanta office of Jones Day. In 2024, she traveled to Capitol Hill to lobby for legislation addressing disparities in school discipline.

"Using my voice to advocate for change on the federal level demonstrated the agency we have as civic participants," Dorsey said.

That same year, she studied abroad in Barcelona through IES Abroad, an experience that deepened her understanding of how American policy affects the rest of the world.

"My experience abroad exposed how interconnected we are politically," she said. "When we cast our votes, we should remember that decisions made in America affect the well-being and political landscape of other countries."

Dorsey's path also reflects a family legacy at Spelman. Her mother, Monica Dorsey, graduated from the college as an English major in 1991. Her grandmother, the late Dr. Gloria Wade-Gayles, was a longtime Spelman professor, poet and scholar.

"I used to sit in my grandmother's library and stare at the vastness of the shelves," Dorsey said. "Years later, I am reading Morrison, Petry, and Neale Hurston — names I recognized from her collection."