The University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law began its sixth Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program with a banquet to honor the 24 incoming scholars representing 23 universities from across the country. The first PLUS program at Bowen School convened for four weeks during the summer of 2003, one of only six such programs at American law schools. These accomplished undergraduate students will spend the month of June in Little Rock learning more about law school and the legal profession.
Leon Johnson, a local attorney with a practice concentrating on criminal defense and general litigation, served as the keynote speaker for the event. Mr. Johnson encouraged the students to enjoy their summer while also learning as much as possible about the practice of law from the attorneys and Bowen faculty with whom they will have contact over the next month. He also gave the students a preview of what the scholars will learn this year. This year, the PLUS scholars will learn how to create effective personal statements for law school applications, will be coached in the basic skills required for success in law school, and will understand more about the practice of law by meeting local judges and attorneys at events like the Arkansas Bar Association Annual Meeting, attorney shadow days, and visits to local trial courts and to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The opening banquet also gave the scholars a chance to introduce themselves to attorneys and law faculty members present and to explain why they wanted to attend law school, with the predominant theme being a desire to “make a difference” in the legal community, helping those who struggle the most to obtain legal representation. This desire to make a difference is at the heart of the PLUS Program, funded in part by a grant from the Law School Admission Council, whose purpose is to successfully guide more members of groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession to apply to, be admitted to, and enroll in law school. While many of the approximately 125 students who have completed the PLUS Program at UALR are still in undergraduate institutions completing their degrees (most of the scholars attend immediately after their freshman or sophomore years), 17 Bowen PLUS participants are currently enrolled in a law school or have graduated from a law school.
Here is a list of the PLUS Class of 2008:
- Aida Abedini – Goucher College
- Monier Abusaft – Wofford College
- Lauren Allen – Philander Smith College
- Amirah Bey – Wilmington University
- Chinelo Bivens – Philander Smith College
- Riena Cornett – Winston-Salem State University
- Kendria Green – UALR
- Samantha Harrison – Western Kentucky University
- Angelica Ibezim – Vanderbilt University
- Jamar Johnson – Loyola University Chicago
- Kevin Kao – University of Texas at Dallas
- Frederick Keith – Oakwood University
- Catherine Kim – Tufts University
- Tiara Ligon – University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
- Jonathan Luckett – Alabama State University
- Brittany Mason – The University of Memphis
- Dumlesi Ndam – Vanderbilt University
- Linda Pena – Southwestern University
- Ingrid Scantlebury – University of Minnesota
- Brittney Sherrod – Tougaloo College
- Jennerette Smith – University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- MaRhonda Smith – Grambling State University
- Vanessa Thomas – Claflin University
- Kimberly Woods – Howard University
