Chayila Kleist
Spring 2022 John Jay Fellow
Hometown: La Mirada, California
College: Biola University
Degree: B.A. in Political Science
Chayila Kleist is a southern California native who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Biola University in the Spring of 2021. She received a B.A. in Political Science, thus becoming the youngest graduate to attain a bachelor's degree from Biola University. That unique honor led to her recognition by the city of La Mirada, which presented her with a Community Spotlight Award in June 2021.
During her college tenure, Chayila’s professional involvements included her serving in multiple roles in her university’s Campus Safety Department. She worked as a gate attendant, cadet trainee, and was specially recruited to serve as a part of the semesterly parking permit distribution team. She also served as the Political Science Peer Academic Advisor at Biola for the 2020-2021 academic year, a position which led to her hire as a summer academic advisor following her graduation. She also worked as an intern for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, serving under deputy district attorneys and investigators in both the Homicide and Sexual Assault divisions.
Academically, Chayila was a student in the Torrey Honors College and became a perpetual member upon graduation. In her three-year course of study, she also participated in several conferences, including the 2019 Pepperdine and Institute for Humane Studies Colloquium, the 2019 ISI Leadership Conference, the 2020 Chapman Pre-Law Winter Colloquium, and RFI’s 2021 seminar and conference on Statesmanship and Religious Freedom. She was a member of the AEI Summer Honors Program’s 2021 Constitutional Law cohort, and became a Liberty Tree Fellow, participating in both the 2019 Religious Liberty and Rights of Conscience and 2020 National Security and Civil Liberties seminars. She has been an invited guest lecturer and invited panel member for Biola’s Political Science First Year Seminar. In addition, she is a member of the national political science honors society Pi Sigma Alpha, and of Epsilon Kappa Epsilon, Biola University’s Honors Society.
After completing her residency at John Jay, Chayila intends to continue her pursuit of serving her community via a career in law. Given her experiences as a pre-traditional student, she knows how difficult it can be to see the impediments created by well-intended general rules for those in unique or unconventionally nuanced situations. Thus, she aspires to spend her career mitigating barriers to justice by helping the public understand their legal rights and freedoms, navigate the complexities of the rules and systems of law, and engage more deeply with the legal and civic spheres as citizens. As such, she will pursue a career as a civil servant in the appellate courts of her home state of California.