[Send to a Friend]

James W. Stoudt Scholarship Fund

The James W. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship Fund of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation is a lasting testament to one of the Pennsylvania Bar's steadfast supporters - the late James ("Jim") W. Stoudt.

Known for his elegant and effective leadership and gracious presence, Jim was instrumental in the creation of the Pennsylvania Bar Trust and served it in many varied capacities for more than 40 years. Although his tenure was briefer, he played an equally pivotal role in the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, serving as our Zone 2 Director and as our first unanimously elected Director Emeritus. We will always be appreciative of his unwavering commitment, his willing spirit, and his sage advice and insights.

In memory of Jim’s contributions to the Foundation and to the Bar community as a whole, and with the support of Jim’s family, we created the James W. Stoudt Memorial Law School Scholarship Fund of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. Supported by individual memorial contributions and the proceeds of "Foundation of Treasures," the Foundation's annual silent auction, the James W. Stoudt Memorial Law School Scholarship Fund currently provides four, $3,000 scholarships, two of which are specifically designated to support minority law students, to candidates attending any one of the eight accredited law schools presently serving Pennsylvania. The scholarships are provided on an annual basis and the recipients are selected by a committee comprised of Foundation Directors and Foundation members using eligibility criteria developed and approved by the Board. These include:

• Good standing and academic achievement as evidenced by applicant’s academic transcript;
• Financial need as certified by the applicant’s law school financial aid office;
• Pennsylvania residency as documented by applicant’s current voter registration card or current Pennsylvania driver’s license; and
• The potential for making a contribution to society and the legal profession either through anticipated legal field or other efforts as discussed in the applicant’s essay and evidenced by the applicant’s recommendations.

In addition, the minority scholarships are specifically earmarked for students from one of the following historically under-represented racial/ethnic backgrounds:

Black (African) Americans – Persons having origins from any of the Black groups of Africa.

Hispanic Americans – Persons having origins from one or more of the Spanish-speaking peoples of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America or the Caribbean Islands.

Native Americans – Persons having origins from or more of the original peoples of North America and who are recognized as an Indian by a tribe or tribal organization.

Applications are due December 3, 2012. Scholarships will be awarded by December 31, 2012.

2012 James W. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship FAQs

2012 James W. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship Application

2011 Scholarship Recipients:

University of Pennsylvania School of Law Geneva Campbell University of Pittsburgh School of Law Patrick Lemon and Akiesha Gilcrist Earle Mack School of Law of Drexel University Eileen M. Somers

 

2010 Scholarship Recipients:

Penn State Dickinson School of Law David Lee Miles Brown and Micah L. Craft University of Pittsburgh School of Law Daniel Carmeli and Lacee C. Ecker Widener University School of Law Traci Marie Crosby

University of Pennsylvania School of Law Pablo Ariel Rubinstein Ize Villanova University School of Law Esuga Abaya and Marissa Prosky

 

2009 Scholarship Recipients:

Beasley School of Law of Temple University Julian Trent Emerson and Merilee Arevalo Duquesne University School of Law Bridget Marie Sedlock and Talon Rice Earle Mack School of Law of Drexel University Earthen Johnson

Penn State Dickinson School of Law Christine Bartkowski and Comeka Anderson University of Pennsylvania School of Law Remy Nshimiyimana Widener University School of Law Michael Follett and Ancy P. Ommen

Julian Trent Emerson

Julian Trent Emerson graduated Cum Laude from Villanova University where he was a St. Martin De Porres Scholar – the recipient of a full tuition, four-year scholarship. As a law student, Emerson serves as the fundraising chair for the Black Law Student Association, an Academic Core Enrichment Counselor for first year law students and is a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.

Merilee Arevalo

Merilee Arevalo received her undergraduate degree from New York University in Classics and Sociology. She is a Beasley Scholarship recipient, secretary of the Intellectual Law Society, a section senator of the Student Bar Association and a member of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and the Women’s Law Caucus.

Bridget Marie Sedlock

Bridget Marie Sedlock graduated Summa Cum Laude from Pennsylvania State University. She currently ranks in the top 11% of her law school class, serves as the assistant managing editor of Juris Magazine and participates in the Family Law Clinic.

Talon Rice

Talon Rice graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in English and Sociology and is on track to receive a Juris Doctorate and a Masters of Business Administration. Selected to participate in the Trial Advocacy Program, he is the treasurer of the Black Law Student Association and a member of the Corporate Law Society.

Earthen Johnson

Earthen Johnson received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia where she was on the Dean’s List, a Merit Scholar, the recipient of the Longevity of Excellence Award and a member of the Phi Sigma Pi Honor Society. She is in the top 20% of her law school class, a member of the Drexel Law Review, a legal intern for the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, a Drexel Presidential Scholar and a NAACP Earl Warren Civil Rights Scholar.

Christine Bartkowski

Christine Bartkowski received a Bachelor of Music Education with honors from Cedarville University and completed coursework on a Masters in Humanities at Wright State University. She is in the top 25% of her law school class, a member of the Yearbook for Arbitration and Mediation Law Journal and secretary of the Dispute Resolution Society.

Comeka Anderson

Comeka Anderson graduated from Pennsylvania State University as a Bunton-Waller 5-year scholar and fellow, obtaining three bachelor degrees. She is currently pursuing a Juris Doctorate and a Masters of Public Administration with a focus on not-for-profit organizational management and serves as vice-president of the Minority Law Students’ Association.

Remy Nshimiyimana

Remy Nshimiyimana, an immigrant from Rwanda and naturalized United States Citizen, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in French Studies. He is the associate editor of the Journal of International Law and a member of the Black Law Student Association and the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

Michael Follett

Michael Follett, a graduate of the University of Delaware, is in the top 10% of his class and pursuing a M.B.A. joint degree with the Widener School of Business. He is president of the Democratic Law Caucus and a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution team and Women’s Law Caucus.

Ancy P. Ommen

Ancy P. Ommen is a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of Temple University. She is a member of the Women’s Law Caucus and provides interpretation and translation services via phone for the Nationalities Service Center.

David Lee Miles Brown

David Lee Miles Brown is a cum laude graduate from Clemson University where he studied secondary education. While an undergrad, Mr. Brown received the Southeastern Association for Employment in Education Scholarship and the School of Education’s Certification of Excellence, and upon graduation, taught eighth grade social studies for three years before heading to law school. Ranked in the top 18% of his law school class, Brown is the associate editor of the Penn State Dickinson Law Review; vice president of the Federalist Society; a Merit Scholarship recipient; and has served as a judicial intern in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for the Honorable J. Andrew Smyser and in the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas for the Honorable Merle Ebert.

Micah L. Craft

Micah L. Craft graduated cum laude from Rutgers University, Douglass College with a degree in Psychology. A Dean’s List scholar and a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor’s Society, Ms. Craft served as a student mentor and conducted informational sessions on the Rutgers admissions process for at-risk high school students. Academic honors continued for Ms. Craft at Penn State Dickinson School of Law where she has received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship, the Mabel Douglass Scholarship, the Keystone Bar Association’s Justice Robert N. C. Nix, Jr. Scholarship and the Corporate Counsel Women of Color Scholarship. She is a member of the Moot Court Board – Frederick Douglass Team, serves as the community service chair of the Black Law Students Association, and spent a summer as an associate at Highmark, Inc. conducting research in the areas of employment law, healthcare law, contract law and warranty law.

Daniel Carmeli

Daniel Carmeli completed a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University and a M.A. in Environmental Conservation Education at New York University. Upon graduation, Mr. Carmeli worked in the fields of environmental policy and community outreach as a program assistant with the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Initiative and as a consultant with D & R International. He worked closely with the U.S. Department of Energy and Housing and Urban Development and received the InterExchange Foundation’s Christianson Grant which afforded him the unique opportunity to spend six months volunteering with the Foundation of Ecological Security in rural India. A May 2012 candidate for J.D., Mr. Carmeli has received numerous academic honors including the Dean’s Scholarship and the CALI Award for the highest grade in Property; served as staff editor for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review; and completed a summer judicial internship with the Honorable. Rochelle S. Friedman of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Lacee C. Ecker

Lacee C. Ecker graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in Political Science and Business and a Public and Professional Writing Certificate. Her distinguished undergraduate career included eight semesters on Dean’s List, the Theta Phi Alpha Senior Service Award, the Golden Panther Award, the Thomas H. and Sara Jane McIntosh Fund Scholarship and the Wilma Binder Zeder Memorial Scholarship, as well as stints as a board member and business manager of the Student Government Board. Ecker also served as the programming vice-chair of the Black Action Society and as the president of Theta Phi Alpha. Continuing at Pitt for her J.D., Ms. Ecker is the staff editor of the Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law, founder and president of the Business and Corporate Law Association, a student representative on the University Review Board and the University Senate Council, and a member of the National Moot Court team and the Black Law Student Association. She is a participant in the low income tax clinic and has served as a judicial intern in the U.S. District Court Western District for the Honorable Nora Barry Fischer and as a legal intern for the U.S. Steel Corporation.

Traci Marie Crosby

Traci Marie Crosby received her B.S. in French Civilization with a concentration in International Business from Georgetown University School of Languages and Linguistics and her M.S. in Performing Arts from the American University College of Arts and Sciences. She spent her 1L year at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law where she worked as a research assistant in the Department of Government Relations and as a teaching assistant for the Civil Procedure class of the Mason Enhancement Program for Academic Success. She transferred to Widener Law as a 2L student and has since joined the Moot Court Honor Society where she was honored for best overall performance in the try-out competition. Ms. Crosby also won the award for Best Opening Argument.

Pablo Ariel Rubinstein Ize

Pablo Ariel Rubinstein Ize graduated with honors from University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Ethnic Studies. As an undergrad he received the California Alumni Association Emerging Leadership Scholarship, the Chancellor’s Community Service Award, and the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship; worked in University Relations, supervising the fundraising call center for the largest undergraduate unrestricted fund of the University of California; and served as a corps member and program coordinator for AmeriCorps, Stiles Hall, a program that provided social and academic support to 40-college-bound Latino and African-American students. Before enrolling at Penn Law, Mr. Ize worked as a freelance Spanish interpreter at a San Francisco law firm helping clients at immigration and asylum hearings and as an English instructor in elementary and secondary schools in Japan and Argentina. The 2012 J.D. candidate is associate editor of Penn Law’s Journal of International Law and recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship and the Morgan Lewis Book Scholarship. He is the class representative to the Council of Student Representatives; chairperson of the Diversity Committee; and the Latin American Law Student Association’s admissions liaison. Ize also participates in Penn Law Advocates for the Homeless and the Penn Law Immigrants Rights Project.

Esuga Abaya

Esuga Abaya received his B.A. in Business Administration from Bluffton University and his M.B.A. from University of Findlay. Prior to becoming a 2012 J.D. candidate at Villanova University School of Law, Mr. Abaya worked as a market analyst studying developing trends in global commerce and international law and as a marketing director developing web based strategies for attorneys and law firms across the U.S. and Canada. He also worked as a community resource coordinator lobbying local and state governments for domestic violence victim advocacy funds and assisting pro se litigants in filing court documents. Mr. Abaya is in the top 10% of his law school class and a member of Law Review, the Pro Bono Society, and the International Law Society. He is treasurer of the Black Law Students Association and spent the summer of 2010, as an associate with Pepper Hamilton LLP researching legal issues for state and federal litigation matters.

Marissa Prosky

Marissa Prosky is a summa cum laude graduate of the Villanova University School of Business with degrees in both Accountancy and Business Administration. The recipient of numerous academic honors including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Scholar-ship, The National Society of Accountants Scholarship and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Scholarship, Ms. Prosky has passed the CPA exam and is completing the remaining CPA licensure requirements while pursuing her J.D. She is ranked second in her law school class and plans to concurrently enroll in Villanova’s LLM program in taxation. She is a member of Law Review, the Tax Law Society Executive Board, the Women’s Law Caucus, Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and has worked as an audit intern with Ernst & Young LLP and O’Connell and Company, a tax intern with Dechert LLP, and a tax assistant for Radnor Tax Services.

Geneva Campbell

Geneva Campbell is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences where she studied English Literature and French studies. The 2013 Juris Doctorate candidate is a dual degree scholar pursuing a Master’s degree in bioethics at the University’s Perelman School of Medicine in addition to her J.D. She has clerked for the Hon. M. Teresa Sarmina of the First Judicial District, worked as a summer associate for GlaxoSmithKline and recruited lawyers for pro bono service as a Philly Fellow at Philadelphia VIP.

Patrick Lemon

Patrick Lemon graduated with distinction from Penn State University with degrees in both Spanish and Sociology. The 2013 Juris Doctorate candidate is the staff editor of the Law Review, a teaching assistant for First Year Legal Analysis and Writing and the Alumni Chair of the Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation. Lemon interned in South Africa for Lawyers for Human Rights, Refugee and Migrant Rights and was an AmeriCorps member with the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, KEYS Service Corp.

Akiesha Gilcrist

Akiesha Gilcrist is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she majored in Political Science, Communication Rhetoric. The 2013 Juris Doctorate candidate is member of Law Review, a recipient of the John P. Gismondi Civil Litigation Certificate, the 2L Class President of the Student Bar Association and active in the Black Law Students Association, Pitt Law Women’s Association and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. She serves as a judicial intern for the Hon. David S. Cercone, U.S. District Court, Western District and is a Law Student Associate for LEXISNEXIS.

Eileen M. Somers

Eileen M. Somers received her Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in American Studies from Franklin & Marshall College. The 2013 Juris Doctorate candidate ranks eighth in the class, is a member of Law Review, a Marshall Brennan Constitutional Law Fellow; and the recipient of the Best Student Performance Award in Torts. She clerked for the Office for the Child Advocate in Wilmington, DE and worked as a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.