Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, known for spearheading the election conspiracy case against former president Donald Trump, says that her HBCU experience at Howard University shaped her career per a feature story on her time as a Bison by school newspaper The Hilltop. Willis attended Howard and majored in political science. Her coursework in political science piqued her interest and the faculty member she encountered Dr. Alvin Thornton, who worked as a Pre-Law advisor in the department during her tenure, opened her mind to all the possibilities imaginable in the law field.

“I had known since I was a child that I wanted to go to law school, but Dr. Thornton really had me thinking in a different direction and I even considered things like city management,” Willis she said to The Hilltop's Natalia Wilson.

However, according to the feature, she never envisioned becoming a prosecutor while at Howard. She initially aimed to become a Defense Attorney like her father. However, she told Wilson that the prosecutors have power and that students should open their minds to the profession.

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Wills said of being a prosecutor, “I’ve helped more people than any criminal defense attorney ever would, because of the position I occupy,”

According to the article, in 1991, Willis held an internship where her primary responsibility was to convince congresspeople to invest in the nonprofit organization she worked for. Willis told Wilson that her work in her internship has continued to shape her career.

“That has benefited me to this day because I still feel confident about communicating with different people. Understanding that I was smart enough to have those conversations and deserved to be in the room, and also because I had the knowledge where we could exchange ideas, and I could persuade them to do what I needed them to do.”