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| Release: | Immediate |
| Media contact: | Nancy Slonim |
| Phone: | 312/988-6132 |
| Email: | slonimn@staff.abanet.org |
| Online: | www.abanews.org |
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ABA NAMES 20 LAW STUDENT RECIPIENTS OF LEGAL OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS
Marks Five Years of Program Assisting Racial, Ethnic Minorities
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ATLANTA, Aug. 6, 2004 -- The American Bar Association today named 20 law student recipients of the association's Legal Opportunity Scholarships, which will provide each with $5,000 for each of three years in law school. The scholarship program was established to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to apply to law school. Each year of its operation, 20 students have been selected for the scholarsh In marking the fifth year of the scholarship program, the association's Board of Governors today recognized Kevin Gooch, a 2001 recipient who was graduated this spring from the University of Georgia Law School and will begin full-time employment this fall as an associate in the Atlanta law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. The ABA is holding its 2004 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, and today's Board of Governor's meeting is among more than 1,800 programs and events that comprise that meeting. Gooch completed his undergraduate studies at Emory College, majoring in political science and philosophy. During his first year at the University of Georgia Law School, he was elected class president. "Growing up in a poor, African-American, single-grandparent home, resources were scarce during my childhood," Gooch wrote in his personal statement when he applied for his scholarship. He credits his grandmother for instilling in him a strong work ethic that spurred him to work at a variety of jobs while in school, and to maintain his academic performance. He believes that the ABA scholarship program benefits law schools as well as the recipients. "The ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship helps to add diversity to law school, which is severely needed. This diversity adds a new point of view to law school and the legal community," he says. Also introduced to the board was Alexandria Lee, one of this year's recipients. Lee, a native of Connecticut, is a graduate of Spelman College who will attend Harvard Law School this fall. Lee cites financial sacrifices by her mother in recounting her efforts to complete her studies at Spelman and enter law school. "As a single parent and a social worker, my mother's salary is less than the annual cost of law school. However, my mother made every sacrifice because she believes, as I do, that I was born to advocate for the dispossessed," said Lee. A complete list of this year's scholarship recipients, their home states, undergraduate schools and the law schools they will attend is attached. For more information on the scholarship program, visit the ABA Web site at www.abanet.org/fje/losfpage.html. Among this year's recipients are three African-American men and six African-American women, two Hispanic men and five Hispanic women, one Asian‑American man and two Asian-American women, and one Native-American man. They will be attending Yale Law School, Harvard, the University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), Northwestern University, Rutgers University School of Law, the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law; New York University and Cornell Law School. With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society. Note: For information about applying for the scholarship, contact Cie Armstead, ABA Director of Diversity Initiatives, at 312/988-6086 or armsteadc@staff.abanet.org |
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