The University of Tennessee will host a California congresswoman at a fundraising event today for the College of Law.
Rep. Maxine Waters, 35th District, will speak at the Julian Blackshear Scholarship banquet tomorrow evening at The Foundry. The program is entitled “Preserving the Past, Pursuing the Future.”
The program is sponsored by the Black Law Student Association, an organization devoted to recruiting black students for the College of Law and providing assistance to those in need.
The scholarship was created in honor of Julian Blackshear, one of the first black students to graduate from the law school. This year marks the sixth anniversary of the banquet for the scholarship.
“[Waters] will discuss the importance of education, diversity in law schools as well as in the legal profession and encouraging all races to network amongst each other to strengthen relations within our communities,” Sonya Madison, the 2006 Julian Blackshear banquet coordinator, said.
Waters was described by Essence magazine as a “fearless advocate for Black people,” according to a press release issued by the university.
The interim director for the law school’s development department described the scholarship and its uses.
“It’s a scholarship that is used for tuition, fees and books. It was awarded for the first time this year. We were able to award the first scholarship this year,” Angela Mills, interim director of development and alumni affairs for the College of Law, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Madison said that the scholarship will provide black students in the law school money after another scholarship initiative soon expires. The expiring initiative resulted from a lawsuit that required institutes of higher learning, like UT, to provide minority students with scholarship opportunities.
“The Geier funding for current African-American students at UT will probably be extinguished after this year, therefore this scholarship is an avenue for future students to pursue a legal education without having to worry about funding,” she said.
The banquet hosted Jock Smith of the Cochran, Cherry, Givens & Smith and Harold Ford Jr. last year, Mills said.
The scholarship has helped the college in several ways, Mills said.
“I think its [effect] has been two-fold. On the development side, its given a great opportunity for students to have an opportunity to get involved with development,” she said. “But it has also given us an opportunity to really focus on diversity initiatives.”
Donors to the scholarship and attendees of the banquet range from “alumni, folks who are active in the African-American community in Knoxville, state-wide,” Mills said. “We had folks coming from Washington, D.C., and Memphis.”
Attendees were given the chance to purchase table sponsorships at the banquet and, according to the office of development for the law school, the following people and businesses have paid the $300 required for the tables: Julian W. Blackshear; Mark Brown; the UT College of Law Legal Clinic; Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop law firm; Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz law firm; and Kramer Rayson law firm.
The banquet will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and a dinner and program to follow at 6:30 p.m.
