The Block Plan is undoubtedly an alluring quality of Colorado College. The small class sizes, quality classroom time and in-depth exploration into a topic at hand are all afforded by the structure of our school. It is at least a factor in the decision many students, including myself, make when coming here.
Yet when I committed to CC in 2023, never did I envision a group of eighteen students returning to my hometown of San Francisco, Calif. for two weeks to attend court hearings, tour law schools, meet with assistant district attorneys and public defenders, tour the county jail and form the closest bond I have ever had with classmates.
The Judiciary, a 300-level political science course, is part of the Career Catalyst Program that CC began in 2023, with a half-block class taught in Los Angeles, Calif. at the toy manufacturing company Mattel. During the 2025-26 academic year, Career Catalyst courses have brought students to National Geographic and the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. and Colorado Firecamp near Salida, Colo.
Taught by political science professor Doug Edlin and coordinated by pre-law advisor Gretchen Wardell, the course sought to examine the courts as legal and governmental institutions.
We spent the first week of class studying the writings of legal scholars ranging from Sonia Sotomayor to Ronald Dworkin. Our afternoons and evenings after class were full of dense readings discussing the adversarial system as a whole, landmark Supreme Court cases, the meaning of impartiality from the judges and the implications of the criminal justice system in the United States.
Our class knew little about what to expect as we boarded flights to SFO at the beginning of week two. While we had received a rough itinerary, the dynamic schedule of the Hall of Justice as well as the appellate, civil and federal courts created an ever changing and constantly engaging agenda.
Our class underwent both an intellectual and an emotional journey during our two weeks in San Francisco. On the first day, after a short meeting and discussion with Superior Court Judge Simon Frankel, we walked down 7th Street to the San Francisco County Jail and received a tour from Sergeant Sara O’Malley.
As we were led through different blocks of the jail, we walked by orange jumpsuit-clad inmates, us staring at them and them staring back at us. Some inmates made comments. One asked us where our Black students were.
“Before this, I had said to someone in our class that, ‘there’s no way we’d be touring the jail with the inmates there. It would be too unethical,” said Santi Bajwa ‘28.
Many classmates had the same opinion, comparing it to a zoo. However, the flip side, Sergeant O’Malley explained, is that no one sees them.
Tour groups are brought through the jail roughly once a week — the city’s board of supervisors, prosecutors, public defenders, judges and school groups like us. While it’s not open to the public, these tours create a level of accountability for jail administrators that would otherwise not exist.
“I’m hopeful this experience gave the students a window into the human side of judging and a human side of the criminal justice system,” Judge Frankel said.
While this experience on our first day was rather startling, it was also a critical background for the remainder of our course. Attending federal court with Judge Charles Breyer presiding, we observed a drug possession case in which the defendant held over 1,000 grams of fentanyl and for whom a 12 year sentence was recommended. At the Hall of Justice, we watched preliminary hearings, jury selection and finally the trials of a domestic violence case and an alleged DUI.
In civil court, we observed a case alleging that Meta wrongfully terminated an employee. At the appellate court, we watched proceedings alleging a wrongful death claim against a healthcare facility.
“It was exciting and engaging to introduce the students to the realities of the criminal justice system after they had studied judging on campus in their first week,” Judge Frankel said.
I cannot speak for my classmates, but I regard weeks two and three of Block 7 as the best two weeks of my year. I am the first to say I love CC — I dread summer break as it means time away from campus, my friends, my classes and the beautiful community I’ve witnessed here. But our time in San Francisco was a complete departure from all of these things in the very best way.
As a mix of sophomores, one junior (shoutout Kate!) and seniors, few of us entered the class with more than a couple of close friends in it. By the time our planes touched back down in Colorado, however, each of us had a close relationship with one another that we continued back on campus.
Particularly during our second week of class, we had long, exhausting and utterly fascinating days booked solid. After breakfast together each morning at the hotel, we would ride the bus down to the courthouse. Our days were spent guzzling coffee, rushing from one commitment to the next and chatting excitedly about what we had learned during breaks.
At night, despite another early morning the following day, we explored Chinatown, the Embarcadero and North Beach as a group, getting ice cream or going out for a drink. During the weekend, several of us went out to an EDM concert, riding Waymos across town to the Mission. We toured Alcatraz, rode a cable car down Taylor Street, and went on runs together by Pier 39. Before mock trial practice, we rushed to Baker Beach to watch the sunset, climbing on rocks by the Golden Gate Bridge.
At the same time, we recognized the immense privilege innate to our experience and discussed it extensively. On our final night, amid speeches, tears and laughter, we also felt the lasting implications of our experience.
“I kept being reminded of the Hunger Games, especially at the farewell dinner…I just kept thinking about how individuals were still in that jail, and hadn’t left since we saw them two weeks prior,” Megan Neton ‘28 said.
While our time in San Francisco was an experience of friendship, growth and education, it was also a recognition of the flaws of the criminal justice system. On our last day, we attended Veteran’s Justice Court, a collaborative court program aimed at rehabilitating war veterans through substance abuse and mental health treatment, rather than incarceration. Bookending the class with the tour of the jail and this court was truly emblematic of the course.
“After practicing and teaching about the courts for my whole career, I admire them,” Professor Edlin said. “I still do, but I’m more critical of it now. In the way I should be.”
Our final days in class back on campus were spent reflecting on the meaningfulness of our time in San Francisco. We shared what we had learned, laughed over inside jokes and connected our experiences to the first week’s readings. As we wrapped up our final, an oral exam taken by three people at a time, the conversation dissolved into a tearful exchange about how much we will miss the class. On the last day, we covered the classroom chalkboard in messages to Doug and Gretchen: “The best class I’ve ever taken.” “We love you, Doug and Gretchen.” “I left my heart in San Francisco.”
“This isn’t a word I use, but I feel blessed,” Edlin said. “Every one of you made this trip better for me.”