Flechsig is among eight people featured in CNN's "Descendants in a Divided America," marking America's 250th anniversary.
Skylar Flechsig ’22, L’27 is among eight descendants of signers of the Declaration of Independence featured in CNN’s “Descendants in a Divided America,” marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The multimedia article explores how descendants across the country reflect on America’s past, present and future 250 years since the United States of America’s founding. Flechsig was interviewed and photographed for the project at Elon Law’s downtown Greensboro campus.
Read the feature on CNN’s website.
Flechsig is the 10th great-granddaughter of Declaration signer John Morton. A native of Apex, North Carolina, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Elon University.
Although her family’s connection to Morton was never a major focus growing up, Flechsig said participating in the CNN project prompted her to reflect more deeply on her family’s place in American history and her own aspirations for the future.
“I find it incredibly meaningful that I am able to have the opportunities I do with this part of our country’s history attached to me,” Flechsig said. “I know that my ancestor believed that things could be different and better, so he did the ‘dangerous’ thing of signing the Declaration and severing our ties with Britain. I know that our country can be different and better, so I am prepared to do what I can to accomplish that.”
CNN’s profile explores Flechsig’s thoughtful and sometimes conflicted relationship with America’s founding. She recognizes the enduring ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence while also acknowledging the inequalities that existed and persisted since the nation’s founding, perspectives that have shaped her interest in law, immigration and public service.
Now considering a career in immigration law, Flechsig hopes to use her legal education to advocate for others and strengthen the communities she serves. As she told CNN, “I always want to have a job that is making the space around me better … helping where I feel like I can, and using my voice to speak for the people who can’t speak right now.”
Before enrolling at Elon Law, and after graduating from Elon, Flechsig taught for more than two years at Henderson Collegiate, a public charter school in Henderson, North Carolina. As an undergraduate, Flechsig was an Honors Fellow. Her thesis advisor and research mentor, Associate Professor of English Kevin Bourque, wrote a letter of recommendation for a scholarship through the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (DSDI) and connected CNN reporters with her.
This summer, Flechsig is engaged in global study at The Hague, Netherlands, through Elon Law’s partnership with Stetson University College of Law.