Explore
Contact Us
Contact the Staff
Meet the Advancement Crew
Join Us
Upcoming Events
Homecoming
Reunion Dinners
Family Weekend at Homecoming
Weekend @ Wilson
Get Involved
Alumni - Get Involved
Parents - Get Involved
Friends - Get Involved
Alumni Board of Directors
Stay in Touch
Write an Owl & Spade Note
Update Your Information
AlumniLink - Alumni Directory
Shop at the College Bookstore
Give to the College
Why Give?
Ways to Give to the College
Annual Giving : The WWC Fund
The Warren Wilson College Circle
Gift Planning
Named Scholarships
Accountability
Make a Gift Online
Buy A Brick
Match Your Gift
More About WWC
Facts and Accolades
History of the College
The Owl & Spade Magazine
The Parliament - Yearbook
The WWC E-Newsletter
The Impact of Our Alumni
Jessica Culpepper
Animal Welfare and Environmental Attorney
A chance visit to Warren Wilson’s campus with a friend enticed Jessica Culpepper, now an animal welfare and environmental attorney in Washington, D.C., to apply. However, it was during the year before she enrolled at the College that she discovered her chosen path. After graduating from high school, Culpepper was employed for a year by a law office in her hometown of Decatur, Georgia. Her time there left a lasting impression. “The firm was a cornerstone of the local culture; the attorneys knew everyone,” she says, “It seemed they were able to help people in ways I wanted to help.” That experience motivated her to follow a similar path: using the law to help people live healthier lives.
After graduating from WWC with a degree in political science and history, Culpepper enrolled at Georgetown Law and in her second year interned in the litigation department of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, she contributed to two cases that were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, including Massachusetts vs. EPA – a landmark ruling in which the high court decided that gases causing global warming are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Culpepper considers her contribution to be among her most prized accomplishments because of its long-term impact on the environment.
Culpepper earned her JD in 2007 and was awarded the annual Barker Foundation Fellowship in Animal Law by the Georgetown Law Center and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). She is currently one of thirteen staff lawyers at HSUS, the nations’ largest animal protection litigation office.
But her work isn’t just focused on advocacy for animals. Culpepper uses her legal knowledge to work on precedent-setting legal campaigns focused on emissions generated by large-scale industrial farms. Factory farms, as they are called, raise animals for the production of egg, meat, and dairy products, through a process in which scores of livestock are squeezed into overcrowded facilities that generate high rates of air contaminants and water pollution. “Not only do these farms affect the animals and the environment, they hurt nearby communities,” she explains. According to Culpepper, factory farms are often built in low-income areas and their emissions are poorly regulated. Therefore, her work often involves determining the effects of these agricultural emissions on humans.
In the future, Culpepper would like to return to serving small communities in the South where large-scale livestock agriculture is a major industry – and polluter. For now, her long hours typically involve gathering facts, collecting documents, meeting with experts, recording depositions, researching the law, and, most meaningful to Culpepper, providing counsel to people.
“People who live near the facilities have no way of knowing what made them sick. In some cases, people have had horrible infections for years and thought they just had a weak immune system,” she says. “Often they call me when they have problems and questions. It is a relationship and a friendship – I am most proud of helping them and their communities.”