A Father’s Influence: Two Chicago-Kent Students Awarded Peggy Browning Fellowships

“I believe most every year for the past five years, maybe a decade, at least one Chicago-Kent College of Law student, even several, have gotten a Peggy Browning Fellowship,” says Taylor Horton ’26. “It’s definitely one of the reasons that I applied to Chicago-Kent—its good reputation at placing students into the prestigious program.”

Horton and Gaby Treviño-Gutiérrez ’26 are the 24th and 25th Chicago-Kent students to earn a Peggy Browning Fellowship in workplace justice advocacy since 2004.

The Peggy Browning Fellowship supports first- and second-year law students who dedicate their summer or a semester to working for labor unions, worker centers, not-for-profit organizations, and union-side law firms. It was created by the Peggy Browning Fund, a nonprofit organization that was established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent labor attorney and former member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Horton, who grew up in a union household on the South Side of Chicago, will be supporting autoworkers as a law clerk for the United Auto Workers labor union at its headquarters in Detroit.

“My dad was a career high school teacher and a proud member of the American Federation of Teachers union,” Horton says. “I grew up with discussions about what unions mean, both for our family, and for other families like ours, and I grew up with that and the values of solidarity and how unions can be a tool for building a truly democratic society.”

Horton completed his undergraduate studies at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and came to Chicago-Kent specifically to study labor and employment law.

Treviño-Gutiérrez was also inspired to fight for workers’ rights by her father.

"My parents were migrant workers before I was born and when I was a baby,” she says. “When I was growing up, they worked in poultry factories mostly. Factory settings are incredibly dangerous places. I remember hearing stories from my parents about not getting adequate bathroom breaks and having their minutes at work counted down to the very last second.”

Treviño-Gutiérrez will spend her summer educating laborers, particularly those who may not have permanent status, of their rights with the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project in Chicago.

Treviño-Gutiérrez decided to go to law school after watching COVID-19 sweep across the poultry industry. 

Tyson, which is headquartered in northwest Arkansas, where Treviño-Gutiérrez grew up, was investigated—and litigation is ongoing—regarding its alleged approach to safety during the pandemic, which resulted in the deaths of six workers and the positive diagnoses of at least 1,000 others in one plant alone.

“These factories were hot spots for COVID, and people were bringing it home and it was a huge epicenter for the spread,” she says. “It was a really terrible experience. We had an altar back home for all of the people who died because of the pandemic, particularly the poultry workers who died.”

Treviño-Gutiérrez graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2020.

Both fellows will receive funding to support their summer endeavors and will be invited to attend the Peggy Browning Fund’s annual National Law Students Workers’ Rights Conference in Baltimore in the fall.

Photo: Taylor Horton '26 and Gaby Treviño-Gutiérrez '26 [provided]