For my job this summer I got one of the PIP grants ($4000 for 400 hours of work). The PIP organization required that we send an email to our dean thanking her for supporting this problem.
This exercise sort of reminds me of the parental admonitions, "Thank your grandma for her birthday card!" which, though an appropriate instruction, always seemed to leave the resulting thank you note a little hollow and insincere, since it was written under external pressure and not one's own internal sense of gratitude...
But I actually did want to publicly commend the school, and the dean, for the efforts they've put in to enhancing institutional support for public interest lawyering. So she hasn't gotten my email yet (it will be relayed to her by the PIP project), but when she does it will say this:
Dear Dean O'Rourke,Thank you for your initiative in supporting students' public interest activities. This appreciation extends not only to the PIP grants but also the other forms of support you've championed as well, such as the enhancement of the loan forgiveness program. Your efforts help make BUSL stand out as an institution willing to develop lawyers able to achieve more than just an extensive tally of billable hours. And we, as students, as well as a school and a society, benefit greatly by it.
Sincerely,
Cathy Gellis
The writing style may suffer from the circumstances, but the sentiment is sincere.