Levin College of Law
Welcome to UF LAW

UF Law Announces Full-Tuition Scholarships for HBCU Graduates

The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law announces a new scholarship program for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) seeking to enter the legal profession. The program will award full-tuition scholarships to at least five HBCU graduates enrolling at UF Law every year.

UF Law launches this endowed scholarship with lead gifts totaling more than $1.1 million, including an initial gift from Yolanda Cash Jackson (JD 90) and a $1 million gift from longtime UF Law supporter Hugh Culverhouse (JD 74). Culverhouse was moved to make this transformational gift after the recent passing of civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis.

“It is the legacy and lofty standard set by the late John Robert Lewis that has fueled this scholarship’s creation and will ensure its long-term success,” Jackson stated.

Jackson initially conceived of the scholarship program as a vehicle for Black UF Law alumni to support greater diversity in the legal profession. Paul Perkins (JD 91) and Greg Francis (JD 94) joined Jackson in making early gifts that permitted the program to be endowed into perpetuity. Francis’ contribution is the largest cash gift ever received from a Black UF Law alum.

“The Black alumni of UF Law now have a lasting pipeline between the law school and the 106 HBCUs in the United States to ensure that the legal profession reflects the rich diversity of our nation,” said Jackson.

Inspired by the late Congressman Lewis, Culverhouse then offered his $1 million gift so that the program could immediately offer multiple scholarships for HBCU graduates seeking to matriculate at UF Law in August, 2021. Scholarship recipients will be recognized as John Lewis Scholars and will enjoy exclusive engagement opportunities with UF Law’s Black alumni network throughout the nation.

“Congressman Lewis used every day of his life to help this nation live up to the ideals of equality and justice for all. He knew that we could not be complacent, that racial justice demands continual dialogue and struggle. This scholarship fund will provide graduates of HBCUs with the tools necessary to unlock the full potential of our great Constitution,” said Culverhouse.

Lewis’ commitment to fighting racial injustice began with organizing lunch counter sit-ins and participating in the original Freedom Rides. His education at Fisk University, an HBCU, and his leadership role in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) ignited a lifetime of activism and service. After more than 30 years as a member of the United States House of Representatives, Lewis was hailed by his peers as the “conscience of the Congress”.

“This scholarship provides a perpetual path for other graduates of HBCUs to continue Lewis’s legacy of ‘Good Trouble,’” said Laura A. Rosenbury, Dean and Levin, Mabie & Levin Professor of Law at UF Law. “The role of trained attorneys in protecting and improving the rule of law has never been more important as our nation grapples with the impacts of systemic racism, a contentious political landscape, and unparalleled uncertainty and loss of life due to a worldwide pandemic.”

Both Jackson and Culverhouse intend for their gifts to motivate additional contributions from UF Law alumni, friends of the law school, law firms, bar associations, corporate entities, and charitable foundations seeking to honor both John Lewis and the strong tradition of the nation’s HBCUs. The law school will begin a year-long campaign to match the Culverhouse gift and grow the fund to at least $2 million before 2022.

“I join Yolanda, Hugh, and others in calling on all of our alumni and friends to help us grow this important scholarship fund during the upcoming year,” said Rosenbury. “UF Law is committed to providing students with the tools necessary to improve the rule of law and fight for racial justice. This fund, which is already the largest endowed scholarship fund in the law school’s history, will ensure that our commitment to access and diversity remains in perpetuity.”

For more information on how to make a gift to the HBCU Pathway to Law Endowed Scholarship, please call the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at 352.273.0640 or email development@law.ufl.edu.

Prospective students seeking information about scholarship opportunities should contact the UF Law Admissions Office at 352.273.0890 or by emailing admissions@law.ufl.edu.

Published: August 20th, 2020

Category: News

Comments are closed.

Recent News

News Archive

University of Florida Levin College of Law
309 Village Drive
PO Box 117620
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-0804
Text-Only Version

Tools

Website

Quick Links

The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.