Law School Dean Strives to Build Connections with Fellow First-Gen Students
Growing up in a ranch family outside Miller, South Dakota, Fulton knew from a young age that he wanted to do something different and pursue a college degree.
“To be honest, working calves inspired me to attend college,” Fulton remembered. “Even though I still love to go back and help at the ranch, I had a lot of chances to be book-y and engaged. I was passionate about ideas and books and knew I wanted to go away for college."
He pursued his undergraduate degree at Yale University, a choice that shocked both his family and his hometown community.
“To say to my mom and dad that I was going to Yale, I might as well have said that I’m going to the moon because college was not a place they’d ever been and not a place they’d ever engaged with or understood,” Fulton said. “And I came from a town of 1,500, so for me to go to Yale was a foreign experience for everyone.”
As a first-generation student attending a private Ivy League university, Fulton attended classes alongside multi-generational students and had to navigate unwritten rules that many of his peers already had figured out. However, as time went on, he realized that the skills he garnered growing up on a ranch proved to be advantageous throughout his college journey.
“With time, I realized I understood more about the lives of some of my peers at Yale than they understood about mine,” Fulton said. “I would find instances where practicality and problem-solving skills that I had as a ranch kid weren’t always there for them. This ability to solve problems was crucial during my time at Yale.”
Equally important to his success as a first-generation student at a prestigious school like Yale University was Fulton’s openness to new opportunities and experiences. This openness has also helped guide his journey through his career in the law.
“Because I was first generation, everything was new and the ability to be open to trying new things – both succeeding and failing at those things – was great,” Fulton said. “That’s been really important in helping me say 'yes' to opportunities I’ve been given, like leaving private practice to work for the governor and coming to USD to become the dean.”
Upon completing his degree at Yale, Fulton went to the University of Minnesota and graduated with his J.D. in 1997. Fulton graduated first in his class out of 270 students.
He then held several positions in the law prior to his time at USD, including serving as chief of staff for former Gov. Mike Rounds from 2007-2010 and as the federal public defender for North and South Dakota. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Diana Murphy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and at May Adam, a private practice firm in Pierre. In May 2019, he became the 14th dean of the Knudson School of Law.
“I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve built my career at home,” Fulton said. “I care tremendously about South Dakota and the law, and I’ve had the good fortune to give back in the place I call home.”
While his work in private practice and as a public defender allowed him to change lives on a case-by-case basis, Fulton feels inspired by his capability to shape the law in a different way – by producing tomorrow’s law leaders.
“It was a tremendous opportunity to give back in my previous work, but here, where I’m able to shape the trajectory of roughly 70 to 80 law students in each class every year, I’m able to give back exponentially,” Fulton said. “I’m sending them out into the world to really make a difference. I’ve told people that before, I was making a difference one case at a time, but here, I feel like I’m building an army in the best way.”
As the dean of the law school, Fulton also has a unique opportunity to give back to first-generation students on USD’s campus. As a former first-generation student, Fulton serves as a mentor to other law students who are post-secondary-education pioneers in their families. The dean also strives to help build a community that helps first-generation students feel welcomed and appreciated on campus.
“Being a first-gen student at a place like Yale where I was a fish out of water has made me empathetic to students who may be outside their comfort zone,” Fulton said. “One of the things I work hard at is building connections with students. Just making USD a good community and making students feel welcome can be really valuable.
“USD is a really cool community for the fact that it’s a community where there are a lot of first-generation students,” he added. “If you’re a first-gen student and you feel like you don’t fit in – you do – or you’re the only one that’s struggling – you’re not. We’re everywhere.”
For Fulton, the first-generation experience goes back to being open to new opportunities. Unlike students who come from families with a tradition of higher education, first-generation students must forge their own path toward success. While this may seem daunting, Fulton sees it as an advantage and encourages other first-generation students to embrace it.
“For first-gen students, everything is out there,” Fulton said. “Openness is a huge thing that first-gens offer. A lot of my best opportunities in life have been because I was open to saying yes to a thing. I encourage other first-gen students to recognize that and offer up their gifts and support other people around them.”
Of course, success is not always easy to come by. Fulton also emphasizes the importance of hard work, as well as the need to accept failure and learn from it.
"Very little is a substitute for putting the effort in," he said. "We all fail, and we all respond to it differently. It's really what you take away from those times where things don't go the way you want and how you move forward that's imperative."
Despite the challenges, Fulton believes that first-generation students at USD have unique opportunities for leadership and community involvement.
“This university, this state and this region will present opportunities for leadership to our graduates much earlier than to folks from bigger communities and bigger schools,” the dean said. “When you graduate from USD – whether from the law school, the medical school, or any undergraduate or graduate program – you’re going to have earlier opportunities and obligations to lead and shape your community.
“Be prepared for that and embrace the fact that you get to shape the world around you early.”
Read more first-generation student stories.
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