Donaghey Scholar Fights for Equity in Education

Not afraid to stand up for civil rights and education standards, attorney Jacqueline Gharapour is impacting the nation’s future — from mentoring high school students to filing briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Donaghey Scholar from Little Rock graduated summa cum laude in 2004 from UALR with bachelor’s degrees in English, history, and French – receiving top awards from all three departments. The high achiever went on to graduate in the top quarter of her 2007 class at the University of Virginia School of Law. “I definitely believe that the education I received (at UALR) helped prepare me to succeed at a competitive/elite law school, and that has been pivotal in getting my career on its feet,” she said. While in Charlottesville, Va., Gharapour participated in the UVA Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, drafting petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court and pursuing appellate litigation, an interest she developed while clerking for Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Robert Brown. She has also influenced education success by mentoring high school students through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, teaching legal ethics to secondary students, and tutoring third grade students in math. Now an associate at Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, D.C., Gharapour has helped draft two U.S. Supreme Court briefs, attain a major settlement on a pro bono civil rights case, and is working with the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court and Education Law groups.