Mary Salvi Barnett ‘15, a Tocqueville Fellowship alumna, recently received the 2025 Young Alumni Award for Public Service at the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government’s annual Statesmanship Dinner, following the the Jeanie Poole O’Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture on Friday, September 12.
Barnett completed her undergraduate degree in political science. Following graduation, she briefly worked for a law firm in Illinois before transitioning in 2016 to work for the Republican Party National Convention. From 2017 to 2020, Barnett held multiple administrative and policy-based positions within the White House. She has since graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and currently works at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C.
Reflecting on her studies at Notre Dame, Barnett recalled how in 2012, her “Political Theory” course taught by Professor Patrick Deneen ignited her interest in political science and compelled her to take other political science courses taught by Professor Deneen and Professor Philip Muñoz, director of the CCCG. She reflected, “The things these writers were talking about hundreds of years ago seem so relevant today.” Remarking that these courses “really spurred my interest in politics, law, and how government works,” she shared that she kept two paper-bound textbooks from a course in constitutional law, which she periodically refers back to.
Barnett credits her time working for the Republican Party Convention with facilitating her career in the White House. Beginning in January 2017, she served in an administrative role as an Executive Assistant in the Domestic Policy Council, where she aided in the development, coordination, and management of domestic policies within the Executive Branch. She also served as an Assistant Staff Secretary, where she traveled domestically and internationally with President Trump. In 2020, she worked in the White House Counsel’s office. Barnett viewed her roles in the White House as a short-term sacrifice that were ultimately formative experiences as she gradually entered into spheres of decision-making. “There’s actually a shortage of people just willing to put their head down, do their work, do it with a good attitude, and return the next day with an even better attitude,” she said.
Barnett transitioned away from politics to pursue law school, graduating in 2023 from University of Chicago Law School. An advocate of law school education, she said, “Law school teaches you to think a little bit differently about how things work, or how to resolve disputes, or how to advocate for something, or convince other people of something.” Barnett sees a law school education as an important skill that she applies now in her own career at Kirkland. “I am constantly learning from other people, how they think, what matters to a client or to a business, and how to communicate in a way that is effective and convincing." For Barnett, “It is incredibly satisfying. Everyday I am coming to work to learn a skill, that is, lawyering, and I leave the day a better lawyer than how I started the day.”
Barnett offered advice to undergraduate students interested in law and politics. With regard to the coursework offered by Notre Dame and the CCCG, she remarked, “It is incredible how that information sticks with you.” The undergraduate formation challenges students “to think about issues of virtue and government” and “the roles of religion and politics and the common good.” Barnett said, “I would advise people to take those [political science] courses seriously, to think deeply about those issues, and to have conversations in faith with their peers.” And in her case, she said, “I would never have been interested in those things if it were not for the great professorship and mentorship from the political science department and the CCCG.”
Lastly, Barnett reflected on what the Young Alumni Award at the Statesmanship dinner meant to her. “I love Notre Dame, and I feel blessed to now be able to represent Notre Dame— as well as the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government and the Tocqueville Fellowship — in the professional world.” She continued, “I feel really grateful and humbled to the school and the professors within the Political Science department who invested in me as a student but have also invested in me as a young professional.” The lasting effect of her Notre Dame education is clear: “The lifelong mentorship of the CCCG just really makes me grateful to Notre Dame and Professor Muñoz.”
To learn more about the Tocqueville Fellowship Program, visit our webpage.