When the Study of Economics, Politics and Culture Meets the Call to Service : Meet Mark Demarest ’16

Every day Mark Demarest ’16 is called upon to problem solve, to make compelling arguments and to build relationships. But Demarest’s most critical responsibility is, as he puts it, “to make people’s lives better.” The Le Moyne graduate works as an assistant staff judge advocate in the United States Air Force, putting his training as an attorney to work in service of his nation. It is work that has brought him to North Dakota and Tennessee nationally and to Cuba, South Korea and Qatar internationally. He has found himself looking up at a dark desert sky while deployed overseas and reflecting that his mission, while extraordinarily different from that of his law school classmates, fills him with meaning and purpose. 

A native of Ithaca, New York, Demarest is part of a three-generation Le Moyne family that includes his grandfather, Eugene Walker ‘51, and multiple aunts, uncles and cousins. He was drawn to the College as a place where he could “study the human condition and what it means to be alive.” He chose to pursue a dual degree in peace and global studies (now global affairs) and philosophy at the College. Today he appreciates the versatility of the global affairs major in particular. It provided him with a background in politics, economics and culture that serves him extraordinarily well in his current role. He is also grateful for his professors’ focus on understanding your place in the world and using your education to impact society positively. What’s more, these educators and mentors encouraged Demarest and his peers “to engage with the materials and each other” and reminded them how important it is “to push themselves, to know their worth, and to never compromise their principles.”

Following his graduation, Demarest continued his studies at George Washington University Law School. He found that his undergraduate education and the support and mentorship he received from Pre-Law Adviser Jim Snyder were sound preparation for his graduate studies. He continued to challenge himself in and out of the classroom, serving as a student attorney at the university’s International Human Rights Clinic, an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a legal intern at Whitman-Walker Health. Each of these experiences, in concert with his Jesuit education at Le Moyne, helped to shape his desire to pursue a vocation in public interest law. That led him to join the Air Force in 2020 and to the work he and his colleagues are now doing.

Moving forward, Demarest looks forward to building a career centered on serving others, and to building on the lessons he learned on the Heights.