IU Maurer School of Law announces programs with diversity office, Jacobs School, SPEA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has established scholarship and mentoring programs with the university’s Jacobs School of Music and School of Public and Environmental Affairs, as well as with three programs administered by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs.
Each program will offer at least two graduates admitted to the Maurer School of Law scholarships amounting to approximately 50 percent of annual tuition, along with access to a formal mentoring program at the law school. The scholarship will reduce the cost of law school tuition over three years by $45,000 to $75,000, depending on the student’s residency and other factors.
“One of the great benefits of IU Bloomington is the access it offers to the best and brightest undergraduate students from IU’s other schools and programs,” said Austen L. Parrish, dean of the law school and James H. Rudy Professor of Law. “We are honored to be joining forces with the country’s top music and public policy schools and with the wide variety of programs that showcase the university’s commitment to diversity.”
Parrish noted that the law school enjoys a longtime association with music going all the way back to its illustrious alumnus Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael, LLB’26, composer of “Stardust,” “Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind” and other icons of the American songbook.
“Fred Aman, the law school’s former dean, is also an accomplished percussionist,” Parrish said. “He studied with some of the great drummers of our time, including Cozy Cole, who played with Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, and Ed Thigpen, who played for years with Oscar Peterson.” Parrish added that several current and former law school students are graduates of the Jacobs School of Music.
“At both SPEA and the law school we explore the intersection of law and public policy,” said Aviva Orenstein, professor of law and Val Nolan Faculty Fellow. “Both the law school and SPEA’s Law and Public Policy Program emphasize critical thinking and the ability to carefully analyze complex laws to understand their practical functions in society. The skills of reading original court cases, persuasive writing and policy argumentation provide excellent preparation for a career in law.”
“The Law and Public Policy Program at SPEA is growing quickly and attracting bright, capable students, and giving them a unique combination of quantitative and qualitative analytical skills that will make them ideal candidates for this remarkable opportunity,” said Beth Cate, a SPEA associate professor and attorney.
“Some of our most distinguished graduates in private practice and public service have come from programs under the auspices of IU’s Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs,” said Kevin Brown, Richard S. Melvin Professor of Law. “As a former director of one of them -- the Hudson & Holland Scholars Program -- I am delighted that the law school and OVPDEMA are formalizing a longstanding relationship.”
Martin A. McCrory, associate vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs, and vice provost for educational inclusion and diversity in the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, said he’s thrilled to help IU Bloomington reward high-achieving scholars through this collaboration with the 21st Century Scholars and Groups Scholars programs. McCrory earned both his undergraduate degree and law degree at IU Bloomington.
“As an alumnus, I know firsthand the benefits of a Maurer School of Law degree and the world of opportunities it opened for me personally,” McCrory said. “It is my extreme privilege to work with some of IU’s top student scholars every day. Collaborating with campus partners like Austen Parrish and James Wimbush to see this scholarship opportunity become a reality has been inspiring.”
Each year, the Jacobs School of Music, SPEA and the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs will nominate at least two students and/or alumni for admission to the Maurer School of Law, provided the applicants meet the law school’s admission criteria. In addition to Hudson & Holland Scholars, students in the Groups Scholars and 21st Century Scholars programs may also be nominated. Other indications of future success, such as prior academic performance, letters of recommendation, past professional and other experience, and desire to study at the law school, also will be considered. Applications will be accepted beginning with the law school’s 2015 entering class.
As one of oldest law schools in the country and Indiana’s top-ranked public law school, the IU Maurer School of Law has a history of developing deep relationships with other prestigious institutions in higher education, both in the United States and abroad. The IU program is the eighth program the Maurer School of Law has established with undergraduate institutions since 2014. As part of an initiative to recruit the best and brightest in Indiana, the law school has also partnered with the Purdue University College of Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., and Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. The law school’s other scholarship programs are with Georgia Institute of Technology, Knox College, Princeton University and Vassar College.
