Student Spotlight Featuring Michelle Millben, MTS candidate

For two decades, Michelle Millben, Esq., has balanced her roles as “lawyer by day, minister by night.” Donning many vocational hats, she has served as a youth pastor, federal government attorney, and CEO of Code Rising, a STEM-intensive workforce preparation program that empowers underserved students.

As a young leader in her home church, Cathedral of Praise in Oklahoma City, Millben ministered to members of her Christian faith community. She initially intended to study religion after college, but a mission trip she led to Skid Row in Los Angeles shifted her trajectory. “I could see the injustices and disparities regarding health and race, and while I love preaching, I realized I needed to learn the law,” recounts Millben.

A violinist with a degree in music performance, Millben graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and spent a year at the Georgetown Law Center. In positions at the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, she advocated for civil rights laws and social policies designed to improve people’s lives. During Millben’s time in Washington, she grew increasingly concerned with pervasive obstructions to what she describes as “the shared values we all aspire to live out as Americans.” She felt called to bring religious literacy more fully into her work to help mitigate these challenges, which led her to HDS.

Millben has immersed herself in the School’s multireligious offerings, studying Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism as well as her own faith tradition. “With the MTS concentration on religion, ethics, and politics, I am broadening my perspective on international policy and relations, as well as learning more about how people create belonging where they live,” she says. “One of the best ways to understand culture is to begin with religion.”

Millben’s studies have also illuminated the roles religion plays in governance, policymaking, and historical legal frameworks in the United States. Referencing a course on civil rights leader and theologian Howard Thurman, Millben says her interest in promoting vocational excellence led her to a powerful conclusion: “I believe that civic life and public service are sacred vocations. I am hopeful that one day more people will purposely come to HDS to do the ‘inner work’ that Thurman encouraged us to explore before running for office or becoming a civil servant.”

Millben’s professional expertise led to the creation of a new student organization, HDS Law. She credits student interest in legal careers and matters as the inspiration. One of its first major events, “The Soul of Democracy: Faith Leaders Shaping Law and Policy,” featured Rev. Margaret G. Kibben, the first woman to serve as a chaplain for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. House of Representatives.  

When describing her overall experience at HDS, Millben notes a genuine sense of belonging in the community, finding her place as both a lawyer and a violinist. She can frequently be seen riding her bike between classes, violin case in tow, to perform at campus events like the weekly Noon Service. Invoking her favorite scripture, Matthew 26:28–29, she shares, “I did not come here to be served, but to serve. My hope is to carry out a level of servant leadership in my life that effectuates positive change.” 

Banner photo courtesy of Michelle Millben.